Primeval Retold 2
by InaraXavier
Summary: season 3 of primeval. follows the life of Nicole cutter, Nicks daughter. She was in love with Stephen and 2 months after he died she left to join the army only to get really badly injured. once recovered she came back to the ARC an began dating Captain Becker. Coles heart breaks all over again when her dad dies and the team worry that she might leave again without saying goodbye.
1. Chapter 1: Stephens Death Flashback

We got outside of the warehouse and my phone began ringing, I got it out of my pocket and saw Stephen was phoning me

"Stephen what the hell are you doing, get out of there"

"I can't do that Cole. I needed to close the door manually otherwise the creatures will get out again"

"But you'll die"

"I know that. It's me or everyone else"

"We can find another way, together like we always have" tears began forming in my eyes as we continued talking

"There is no other way. Cole I'm sorry about that fight we had. I shouldn't have trusted Helen, I should have trusted you"

"Don't. Don't do that"

"Do what?"

"Don't you dare say goodbye to me like this"

"This is the only time I'm going to get to"

"No because you are going to come out of that warehouse"

"Stop"

"No because I can't loose you"

"And you won't because you'll keep me alive, in your memory and heart"

"That's not enough for me"

"It's gunna have to be, love"

by this time I had walked over to one of the wall and had slid down it and was sitting in the floor with my knees at my chest. The rest of the team were trying to get in touch with the ARC, well everyone apart from dad who knew what was going on with Stephen. I was holding back the tears but it was getting harder to do so

"You still there babe?"

"That's the first time you've ever call me babe"

"I'm running out of time so now's the time to say anything that needs saying"

"I really hate you"

"I know you do. Okay my turn, your beautiful"

"Please don't do this, there has to be another way"

"There's not and the creatures are coming. Do me a favour, love"

"Okay"

"Sing to me"

"No, I can't say goodbye like this"

"Cole, please. I don't want to go with you mad at me"

"Okay.

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave?

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall

But watching you stand alone?

All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have… I have lov…"

"Hey it's Okay if you can't finish. We're out of time anyway. They're here"

"I lov… I love you"

"I love you too. I'm sorry this has to end like this. Have a good life, Cole. Do that for me have a fantastic life. Now, I'm going to hang up because I don't want you to hear what's going to happen"

"No, just mute your end of the phone. I want to be with you"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Please"

"I love you". Then Stephens end of the phone went silent and I continued to sing, I'm going to sing him to sleep

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave?

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall

But watching you stand alone?

All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still

Beauty in all she is

I will be brave

I will not let anything take away

What's standing in front of me

Every breath

Every hour has come to this

One step closer

I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

One step closer

One step closer

I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

The phone then went completely dead and cut out. I threw the phone across the grounds and it smashed as it hit the wall, good thing I backed it up on my laptop yesterday. The team turned to face me as I rested my head back on the wall. Dad came over and sat next to me, he took my hand and said softly

"I'm so sorry, Sweetheart" the tears began to flow as I said

"He's gone and the last time I saw him we had a massive fight"

"Come here".

He opened his arms and hugged me like his life depended on it. He kissed the side of my head, stroked my hair and whispered soothing things into my ear about how Stephen loved me and how he forgave me for the fight. By this time the others had realised that something has happened to Stephen, Abby was crying into Connors chest, Jenny had her hand over her mouth holding back tears and even Caroline looked upset. The ARC team arrived 15 minutes later and we were all taken back to the ARC to be checked over by medical and once we were cleared Dad took me home. The second I got home I went straight up to my room and changed into a vest top and some sweatpants. Then I got into bed and began looking through photos on my laptop. Let's just say I didn't take the next week well; I stopped eating, stopped talking, stopped coming out of my room and stopped going to the ARC, but at the end of the week I got a visit from Jenny when Dad was out with the funeral people sorting out last minute things.

I was in my room watching a film when there was a knock at the front door. I got up, grabbed my hoodie and went to see who was there. When I got to the bottom of the stairs I could see Jenny through the glass, I opened the door and stepped aside so she could come in. We walked through to the Lounge and she spoke first

"I got you something" she handed me a box and it was a new phone, A Blackberry Torch 9810.

"Thanks. How's the team?"

"They're okay, They miss him. How are you holding up?"

"Not good"

"Listen Conner and Abby were tasked with cleaning out his apartment because he didn't have any next of kin and they found this" she pulled an envelope out of her bag and said

"It's got written on the front 'if anything happens to me please give this to Cole Cutter'" she handed it to me and then said

"I'll leave you to it. I'll see you at the funeral tomorrow".

"Thanks for this Jen"

"No problem". She left and I decided not to read the letter here, so I went upstairs and got changed to go out. I got changed into a pair of light grey jeans, a dark grey vest top, a pair of black heeled ankle boots, I also had a blue checkered shirt tied around my waist, and I also pulled to chunks of hair and pinned it back to it was off my face. I then took my laptop down stairs and sorted out my phone, when all my numbers had transferred I sent out a mass text saying 'Hey this is Cole. I'm just texting to let you know that this is my new phone number'. I put my phone in my pocket and folder the letter and put it in my back pocket. As I did that Dad came through the door, he came into the lounge and said

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah there's something I need to do. I won't be long"

"Ok well I was going to order in some Chinese, want anything?"

"Um yeah I'll have my usual. I'll see you in a bit" I left and walked down to a little bridge by the river that no one goes to. I went there because Stephen took me here for are first date. I made sure nobody was around and then opened the letter.

'Cole, if you're reading this then that means I'm gone but you're safe. I'm writing this just after you left after that stupid fight we had, and I am so so sorry for not trusting you. After everything that Helen did to you I should never have let her back into my life.

Ok now down to business. I know you better than anyone and I know you so well that when you are overwhelmed with sadness you put your walls up and shut everyone out. I'm telling you now, Don't, don't shut your dad out he's hurting just as much as you are. So I want you to do somethings for me

1\. Don't keep those walls up forever

2\. Move on

3\. Don't shut your dad out

4\. Keep fighting the anomalies, keep everyone safe

5\. Go ahead and become the Doctor that's I know you can become

6\. And finally, Live. Have a brilliant life.

I love you Cole, and I don't care if you don't feel exactly the same way but in the envelope is some thing that I've worn ever since my mum died when I was 5, it was my Grandads and I see it as a good luck charm, I want you to have it. As long as you wear that

I will be with you.

Thank you for everything

Good Luck and Well, Goodbye

Sincerely

Stephen'

I tipped the envelope and the ring tumbled out. It was silver and black with a dark blue stone in the middle. The stone had writing around it 'Class of 1951'. I then closed the letter, put back in my pocket and walked home but I passed a local shop. I went in a brought a silver necklace chain, when I got out of the shop I opened it and fed the ring on it, I then put the necklace on a carried on home.


	2. Chapter 2: The British Museum

Nicks.P.O.V.

10 Months Ago

"Stephens been dead for two months, Dad. I thought I was coping with it but I'm not. The pain is too much and I'm trying so hard to get on with my life but I can't do this. I need a break from the anomalies and from the ARC"

"I miss him too, Cole but that's no reason to pack up and join the Army". She stopped putting things in her bag and turned to me. She had tears in her eyes and I knew that she was struggling with this.

"Dad please just respect my choice. I can't stay here. I dropped out of college, planned to be a doctor but then the worst thing in my life happened, I lost the man I loved. I need a change"

"Last time you said you needed a change you spent two weeks in the past traveling through anomalies". She carried on putting things in her bag as i continued speaking

"Look, I know you're struggling but we can get through this together"

"Dad you said that you wanted me to live my life and all I've wanted to do for months is to help people so that's why I'm going. Please get on board with this"

"When do you leave?"

"Couple days"

"Where will you be stationed?"

"Don't know"

"Helpful"

"I get assigned to a place when I get put into a group". She finished packing up some stuff and said

"I'm going to miss you" she hugged me and just for a moment things felt normal again.

"I'm going to miss you too, Baby Girl"

1 Month Ago

Cole has been gone for 9 months and all I know is that she was put into a special forces group and has been traveling across the world and lay I heard she was going to Bolivia. Anyway It was a normal day at the ARC, we've dealt with an anomaly that lead to Triassic period and the creature that came through it was a coelophysis (One of the first true dinosaurs was coelophysis, a carnivorous, bipedal predator that emerged in the late Triassic). However when we got back to the ARC I received a phone call from the Military, I went into my office to answer it.

"Hello"

"Is this Nick Cutter?"

"Yes. Can I ask who's speaking"

"This is General Gordon. I'm calling on behalf of your daughter, Nicole Cutter"

"Is she alright?"

"Unfortunately there was an incident in Bolivia. I can't give you details of the operation for legal purposes but I can tell you that there was a helicopter crash that has killed five out of the six people in your daughters forces group. Miss Cutter is the only survivor but she is in a coma and is being transferred back to London"

"When will she be back"

"Later on today. She will be at Great Ormond Street this afternoon at four. If you'd like to visit her all you have to do is go to the hospital and ask what room she's in"

"Thank you for letting me know"

"You're Welcome Mr Cutter, Goodbye"

"Goodbye". I ended the call, slumped back in my chair and ran my hand through my hair sighing as I did.

"Everything alright". I turned my chair and saw Jenny standing at the door, I sighed again and said

"Cole is in a coma"

"What happened"

"There was a helicopter crash. Cole is the only survivor"

"Oh God"

"I'm going to go she her later on today"

"Mind if I tag along"

"No it's fine". So later on that day Jenny and I went to the hospital. Cole's room was at the east side of the building and had a nice view of the memorial park. However I couldn't enjoy it because lying on the bed in the middle of the room was the broken figure of my little girl. She had multiple cuts overhear body, a skull fracture, broken wrist, broken ribs, bruised internal organs and apparently has bleeding on the brain. The doctor says that it's a miracle that she's alive.

Present Day

Lester's P.O.V.

"I assume you've been fully briefed, Becker?". Was what I said to the new solider that has been hired to keep the team safe.

"Yes, sir"

"You're Job's to tighten up security in every area of the ARC. As you may know, we've had a number of unfortunate lapses recently"

"I'm aware of that"

"You're also aware of the work we do here?" He answered me sounding slightly amused but not at all surprised.

"You detect anomalies and fight dinosaurs, when necessary"

"Correct. You don't sound surprised"

"I have extensive experience in dinosaur handling, sir. I assumed that was why I was picked for the job." I stopped at the end of the the main corridor, looked at him and said with a serious tone

"I take it that's some sort of joke"

"Yes, sir"

"A lot of people are skeptical when they first join us, Becker, they don't stay that way for long. And in future, I'll do the jokes"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir" we walked into the main operations room with him behind me a I said

"You'll be dealing with a highly strung and temperamental team of rank amateurs, who just happen to be brilliant at what they do. Your job's to stop them getting themselves killed. No matter what they say, no matter what excuses they use, you and your men will stick to them like glue. We can't afford another Stephen Hart. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir"

"Good luck. Oh, by the way, Professor Cutter won't like you and he'll go out of his way to make your job as difficult as possible. Try not to take it personally. One more thing, his daughter has recently returned from the military with extensive injuries and when she returns be warned she has one hell of an attitude and is very protective over the team". I then walked up to my office leaving Captain Becker to look word on his own.

Nicks P.O.V.

Cole has been showing signs of improvement but I've only been to see her a few times since she's been back, she's awake for a week but hasn't been let out of the hospital yet. The team know that she's back in London and know why she's back from Bolivia. I've seen Cole once since she's woken up and she tried calling me everyday but I don't answer. Don't get me wrong I love her and all but I'm the one who let her go off to Bolivia and I feel guilty about her getting hurt.

Anyway I'm currently sat at my desk at the ARC in my own little world thinking about the last time I saw Stephen

' "Stephen, Open the door"

"Can't do that Nick"

"No, open the door. Open it"

"Get Cole and get out of here. Get her to safety, for me". He turned away and walked away. I grabbed Cole a had to drag her out of the building with her shouting and crying

"STEPHEN!" '

"Cutter?" I was snapped out of my thoughts and saw Jenny standing in front of my desk. She then said

"Don't you ever go home?" I smiled then dropped my eyes. She then said

"You can't take this personally you know. No blames you"

"For what?"

"For what happened to Stephen. It wasn't your fault"

"Yeah I know. It was Helen's"

"Then why are you blaming yourself?"

"Because I should've stopped her, that's my job. If Stephen hadn't died then Cole wouldn't have gone off to the military and would be stuck in a hospital right now"

"But you can't change the past"

"Yeah. You don't know the half of it, Claudia Brown"

"Okay, I'm out of here" she picked up her bag but before she left she said

"Do you want to get something to eat? I'm starving" I said yes and we walked out of my office only to be stopped by the ADD then said sarcastically

"Perfect timing" I sighed once more and called Abby

"Yeah?"

"We got another one"

"Where?"

"Meet me in the British Museum"

"Okay" the call ended and Jenny and I got into the cars along with the new security detail and are own personal bodyguard.

15 minutes later we arrived at the museum, I grabbed my gun nut just before we went in my phone went off again. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Cole but once again I didn't answer. Instead I proceeded on the task at hand.

As we were walking through the museum we heard Connor shouting from behind us. We all stopped and turned to face them, they stopped and were taken back by the amount of security we had with us.

"Connor Temple, Abby Maitland, this is Captain Becker, he's here to protect us, so do as he says" they shared a weird look until I said

"Unless I think he's wrong. This way". We then proceeded through the museum following the signal from the handheld detector.

As we walked through the Egyptian exhibition I heard Connor say

"You know, when I was a kid, I used to think that all the exhibits came to life at night. When I was about eight, I decided to stay behind one night and find out" Abby then spoke to him

"Mmm! What happened?"

"Nothing, really, apart from the fact that I got locked in the toilet for three hours"Abby laughed slightly and Connor said

"It's not funny. When they found me I was hysterical. Had a problem with museums ever since"

"Shouldn't you have a problem with toilets"

"Got over that" we carried over further into the exhibition until I came across a red jacket ripped to pieces. I picked it up and then saw a body not far from it. I pressed my finger up against the women's throat to only feel no pulse. Then my phone went off once again, I took it out of my pocket and Cole was calling again, I declined the call and then a female voice said

"Any particular reason that you're avoiding me?" The guns shot up all aimed at Cole who was walking towards us. I then heard Connor say

"Busted". I then said

"When did you get out of the hospital"

"About two hours ago. I had to call Stacey for a lift because you've been dodging my calls" I pointed down at the body and said

"What do you make of this"

"Definitely an animal kill, hard to tell what sort". Jenny then said

"Sorry to break this up but Cole how did you know we'd be here" she pulled out a detector from her back pocket and said

"Always kept one at home. Just in case"

"You came here by yourself, unarmed" she laughed and said

"Who said I'm unarmed. I've already looked around and couldn't find any sign of a creature apart from her. If the creature is still here it could be anywhere by now"

"Right Split up. Connor, Abby take a couple of men and go search another part of the museum. Cole you stay with me" They then walked off whilst the rest of us proceeded down the hall.

"Back five minutes and already gone all protective. But we need to talk later about why you've only seen me once since I've woken up" Jenny looked at me with a shocked and angry expression on her face, I then said

"Yeah I know, you can yell at me later"

"By the way who's action man behind us"

"Cole this is Captain Becker. Becker this is my daughter, Cole"

"Hey"

"Hey". Cole walked ahead slightly and that's when I noticed the gun tucked into the back of her trousers over her top.

After a few more minutes of searching we heard a noise that sounded like footsteps. I then said

"Cole you checked the building was there anyone else here"

"I didn't see anyone but there might have been" we then ran to the source of the noise and on the way Cole got out her gun just in case. We then saw a woman walking out of another room. Connor got to her first, posted his gun at her and said

"Stay where you are" she took in a sharp breath and she turned around to run.

I then said

"Stay where you are" she stopped and looked terrified.

Coles P.O.V.

After seeing the scared expression in this women's face I gave dad a look that said 'let me handle this one' he took a step back and let me talk to her.

"It's all right. Now, who are you?"

"Dr Page. Who are you?"

"I'm Cole Cutter". Her eyes then scanned everyone behind me and then she said

"Okay. Um…I'm…I'm guessing you're some kind of thief?" Her eyes were then fixed on my gun as I said

"Actually, no I'm a medical doctor". After I said that dad said from behind me

"Since when?"

"You really want to do this now" Dr page then said

"I've never seen a doctor with a gun before"

"Very specialized field". We then walked back over to the dead women. I stayed next to Dr page the entire time just to make sue she wouldn't run off. When we got to the body, dr page took in a sharp breath and said

"Marion" that completely freaked her out because she ran off down the corridor. I sighed and shouted 'Dad' before running after her as we were running I could here Dad shouting at us from behind.

"Dr Page!" I was shouting at her to stop but she kept on running down to the storage room. I followed her and then I heard screams, I entered the room to see Dr Page against some crates and something resembling a crocodile trying to get at her. I ran over to her and pulled her into the corner which seriously hurt my stomach. Sarah kept on screaming but before it could get us it ran out through the loading bay doors. The others then came in and I was in a considerable amount of pain.

Dad turned to us and said

"You okay?" I answered first

"Yeah" I walked away from Dr page and rested against some other crates. Jenny came over to see if I was alright, I assured her it will pass and then turned back to dad and dr page. She was just stood in the corner I left her in. Dad took a step forward and asked

"What did you see?"

"Ammut. I saw the goddess Ammut. Look I know what I saw Okay. And it looked like that" she pointed at the statue head next to me which look remarkably like the creature. Dad then said

"Look, I believe you saw something, I've seen things that confuse me, too, but I just don't think it was Ammut" Abby then came running over and said

"Five tracks. Biped and quadruped. It's heading south" Jenny then said

"I've got to get back to the ARC" dr page then said

"The ARK?" Connor amid then both said

"Not that one"

"I'm going to brief Lester. Becker, can you secure the area" Becker nodded and ran off. Dad then said

"Connor, stay here and see if you can work out what period the anomaly is linked to and find out what Dr Page knows about the sun cage. Abby come with me. Cole stay with Connor, no arguments"

"I wasn't going to argue, just be careful" he and Abby then ran off after the creature leaving me, Connor and a bewildered Dr page. Connor then thought he would do something clever.

"I bet I can read your mind. You wanna know who we are, what the ARC is, and what the big flickering thing is behind me, right?" It back fired because she said

"Actually, um, I was wondering why and Egyptian demon was trying to eat me" I stood up straight and laughed at Connors failed attempt to be clever. As I walked past him to pick up my gun I patted his shoulder and said

"Nice try but next time don't be so cocky" as I picked up my gun he said

"Good to see you too Cole" I walked back over to him and said

"Sorry. Come here" I hugged him and he hugged back tightly. So tight that it was seriously hurting my ribs.

"Connor, broken ribs remember" he pulled away and said

"Right, sorry. It's so good to have you back"

"Yeah well I don't know if I'm going to be much help at the moment"

"You're kidding right, you just saved Dr Page from being eaten by Ammut apparently" she then said

"Thanks by the way"

"No problem it's what I'm good at" I then turned back to Connor and said

"So what's with Action Man"

"Lester thinks we need more protection since…"

"Since Stephen"

"Yeah. How are you dealing with it"

"I'm doing okay. You?"

"Same. Come on let's get to work".

I sat on some crates crossed legged playing with my gun whilst Connor looked at the sun cage and whilst Becker was closing the bay doors.

"So Dr Page what do these hieroglyphs refer to?" Connor asked her.

"That's what I've been working on. But there are so many unanswered questions, key fragments are missing. And I've been trying to figure it all out. If Marion had let me finish, Ammut would have got me and not her"

"I'm sorry, was she your friend?"

"Oh, no, not at al. But you know given a choice, I wouldn't want her dead". By this time Becker was stood next to me looking at what I was doing with my gun. He then said

"I've seen your file. It's impressive"

"Thanks, I guess"

"And I'm also aware of what happened to you in Bolivia" I froze as he continued talking

"You're very lucky to be alive"

"So people keep telling me"

"And I'm sorry about your friends" I took a breath and said

"It wasn't just them who died, twenty five children were on that helicopter. Everyone of them died" I looked up and got a proper look at Becker. He was about 6ft 2, had black neat hair, big brown eyes and a line shaved into his eyebrow, he was definitely a solider, and kinda fit, I then said

"So how long did you serve"

"Two tours in Afghanistan, how long were you gone"

"I left 10 months ago but technically I served for 9 months, I've spent the last month in hospital". Connor then brought us back to the task at hand.

"Right, let's see what we got here" he opened up a tool box only to have a metal spanner fly from it and into the sun cage breaking of a piece as it went into the anomaly. Dr page looked at him seriously and he just looked guilty. He picked the piece up and looked at Dr Page.

"I didn't do it"

"So it just…it fell off by itself?"

"Yep"

"The sun cage is cursed. Anyone who touches it is… doomed for life" Connor stood up and looked slightly scared at her words, he dropped the piece and said

"Really?"

"Marion was the last person to touch that" he wiped his hand on his vest as he said

"The dad one?"

"I should've told you that earlier, right? Sorry about that Bad luck" she was messing with him, this is going to be fun, Becker then said

"Bad luck"

"Definitely cursed, shame". I held back a laugh as he sat down on a crate in front of me, knocking off a vase as he did. He shut his eyes in defeat as Dr Page gave him a stern look.

Connors phone than rang, he put it on speaker so we could all hear.

"Yo"

"Connor, it's me, what've we got?"

"I've just took a reading from the anomaly. Whatever came through it is at least 55 million years old"

"Eocene Epoch. Yeah it's fast, it's string, it switches from two legs to four, and it's obviously Carnivorous, so search the databases, profile me some creatures" we then heard a car alarm in the distance and then dad said

"We're heading south. I think we got it" I jumped off a creat as Becker said

"Tell them I'm on my way" I then said

"I'm coming too"

"No you're not"

"One thing you need to learn about me is that I really don't like being told what to do" as we left the room I heard Connor say

"Action man and Cole said their coming". We ran to his car. We got in and met up with Dad and Abby by a crush car and another body.

As soon as we got out of the car Becker said

"Professor what have we got?" Dad pulled out something for the top of the car and said

"Abby what do you make of this?" He threw it to her and she said

"Crocodile tooth"

"The river" we then ran to the river. Abby saw some blood on the steps leading into the water and then said

"Crocodiles usually drag their victims into water to finish them." Becker then said

"So why did this croc attack on land?"

"Why is it walking on two legs?" Dads mind began narrowing down what it could be. When he figured it out he called Connor.

"Cutter. Yeah I'm just narrowing down the list of creatures from that era right now"

"I think I know what you're going to find"

"Just give me a minute. Oh yeah. Yeah this is definitely the guy. Hang on his name is…"

"Pristichampsus"

"Bingo. Yep. Looks like the one". Dad ended the call and I said

"All right so it's in the Thames but it's not going to be there for long. It's going to come ashore looking for warmth. And food". We watched eagerly over the water waiting for it to reappear. Dad stood with a pair of binoculars watching over the bank whilst the rest of us just waited for it to come out.

Abby then said

"If it's been living in Egypt, the Thames will be much colder that what it's used to. It will be looking to get out pretty soon"

"Make that right now" he pointed across the bank and we took off running again. We got to the other side and met up with Jenny. We found a bag in the floor and Becker said

"If the first tranquilizer dart doesn't floor this thing, we have no option but to use live rounds. Okay professor?" I swapped my normal gun for a tranq gun but still had my normal gun on my just in case. Jenny then said

"Don't tell me we've lost it again". We saw people screaming and running out of a shopping mall.

"Apparently not" we ran in through a broken window across some shattered glass. We had are guns raised as we entered but then we heard more screams. We ran towards it and saw loads of people running down stairs, I looked at dad and said

"Upstairs?"

"Yeah" we ran upstairs with Becker. Him and Abby went one way whilst me and dad went the other. We found it in the dining room roaring a a women that didn't speck English. Dad ran at her and tackled her as the creature lunged at her. I threw a chair at the creature as dad yelled

"Cole!" The creature turned to me

"For God's Sake shoot it" I got my gun out but the dart missed, hitting the wall right next to dads head

"Sorry". I kicked the creature before climbing under a table for cover. I couldn't see what was going on with dad but I could hear glass breaking and dad yelling.

"Dad!" I grabbed my gun but as I was loading it I heard a crash, I stopped momentarily before running onto the balcony to see dad hanging over the edge with a hose pipe wrapped around him and the women holding him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just enjoying the view" Becker then turned up. He pointed at the creature and said

"looks like it's heading back to the river"

"It probably want to go home". I Stepped aside so Becker and Abby could help bad up. When he was safe we ran back to the cars and I called Connor to let him know that Pristichampsus was heading his way.

"Hello"

"Looks like Pristichampsus is heading your way, make sure it can get to the anomaly" I hung up and we drove back to the museum.

We got there and ran to the loading bay. As we got close I heard Connor yell

"Sarah it's come through the other doors". We entered and dad said

"Connor get out of the way". Connor decided to grab a chain a climb up the side of the baracade he built.

"Guys, please just get it back through the anomaly". Becker to a step forward, I put out my hand and said

"Don't shoot it"

"It's my job to keep you alive" Connor then yelled

"Come on, I'm too young to die" the creature snapped at Connor and Abby then said

"It's injured, it wants to go home"

"I don't know how long I can hold on, Cutter" Sarah then said

"Bow"

"What?" Was dads response.

"Bow down"

"What are you talking about"

"This creature is used to being treated like a god. They would have bowed as a sign of respect" Abby then said

"If it doesn't think we're a threat, it might not attack" Becker then said sternly

"I'm not bowing" I then said

"I don't like it either, just shut up and get down on the ground. Keep the gun handy" he listened to me and everyone kneeled on the ground. The creature went straight past us and into the anomaly which closed straight after. Connor then fell to the ground hard.

"Ow!" We all stood up and dad said to Sarah

"Good work" Connor then said

"That's got to be the end of the curse now, right?" I laughed and then both me and dad then walked over to Connor to see if he was alright.

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, brilliant. You know what? I think Stephen might have liked this one" dad looked at Sarah and said

" I think he might've liked our Dr Page even better" I hit his arm playfully before we all left the museum and went back the ARC.

As soon as we got there Connor and dad stared talking science

"I want you to set up a research program into magnetite, it's effects of anomalies, how electricity can be used to lock them"

"Cool" I stood next to dad and as I saw Lester walking down the ramp saying

"Please tell me you got that bad tempered reptile back in his box"

"Yeah"

"Excellent" he then walked over to Sarah and introduced himself

"James Lester, Home Office"

"This is a government facility"

"What did you think it was, the circus? You're Sarah Page"

"Dr Page" he opened up a file and carried on talking

"Hmm. Yes PhD I'm Egyptology, promising academic career, veteran of archaeological digs in every corner of the Middle East. Now you're giving lectures to kiddies at the museum. How did that happen?"

"Just not very good at taking orders"

"You should fit right in, then. Speaking of" he turned to me and I simply shrugged and said

"What?"

"There's no point in me telling you that you're on Medical suspension for three weeks, is there?" I just smirked at him and he said

"No of course not". Him and dad then began walking out of the room but as dad passed me he handed me a beer and said

"You might need that" Sarah then came over and said

"Is he always that rude?" She was referring to Lester

"By his standards, he was actually being pretty nice" me, her and Connor then left the main ops room and followed Dad. Sarah then began asking questions

"So this is what you do here, is it? You… you deal with these anomalies as and when they occur?"

"This is what we do" as we entered one of the rooms a whistled at the work on the board, I then said to dad

"You've been busy". Sarah then went on talking

"Can't believe I saw Ammut. Well, what the Egyptians thought was Ammut. Genuine living legend" dad then muttered

"Legends…" he slammed his hands on the desk and said

"Yes. If anomalies have appeared in the past, and they have, if Pristichampsus is sunning itself on the banks of the Nile 3,000 years ago, that's the stuff of legend. Anything that seems out of place, out of time, like…"

"Like chimera, Pegasus…"

"The Yeti"

"the Hydra"

"The kraken" dad then looked at his work and said

"I've been looking at this all wrong, I've been thinking two-dimensionally" he then said to Sarah

"How much do you know about mythological beasts?"

"Well, my thesis on it is in the British library" he then turned to Lester and said

"She stays" Sarah then said

"Do I get a away in any of this?"

"Yes. Yes, of course. I would like you to join us here at the Anomaly Research Center. I want you working on the source of all the great myths, where they were first spotted, when, by who. Can you find a pattern? Or you can go back to lecturing school kids. Your choice" she look at me and Connor and I said

"Go for it" and Connor gave a thumbs up

"Okay. I'm in"Lester the said sarcastically

"Great news, I feel safer already" I then asked him

"What do we do about the sun cage"

"Well, the anomaly's closed, might not open for another 3,000 years, if ever"

"Yeah but it's still a risk. It's not as if it can be on public display anymore"

"Happily, that's not out decision to make. The Culture Minister tells me the exhibition is moving on" after a hour Dad and I went home so we could talk.

He sat down on the couch as I started talking

"Why have you not been answering my calls?"

"I've been busy"

"To busy to talk to your own daughter" he didn't say anything so I moved on

"Okay, next question. Why did you only come and see me once after I woke up?"

"I couldn't stand to see you like that"

"Yeah but I needed you. I had just woken up from a three week Coma to be told by a total stranger that the five men I considered as brothers were dead along with twenty five children. I was terrified, I needed you and you weren't there for me" I felt a tears roll down my face, I was slowly letting my walls down releasing the emotions I've bottled up for 10 months. He stood up and hugged me before I pulled away and spoke again.

"When I found out that they were dead it felt like my heart had shattered into a million pieces again, just like when Stephen died. I needed you to help me get through it. Scratch that I need you to help me get through this because I don't know how much more heartbreak I can take. This pain is killing me and I don't know what to do about it. Please help me" by this time my walls broke letting all my emotions out in one big wave causing me to collapse in my dads arms into the floor crying my eyes out. Dad stroked my hair and whispered in my ear

"Shhh, it okay. Everything is going to be fine. I'll help you get through this. Me and you together because I'm not leaving you alone again"


	3. Chapter 3:The Abandoned House

I've been back almost a month now and dad has been trying to help me with the loss of my old team but isn't doing that good of a job. Don't get me wrong, I love him for trying to help but he's really not the best person to deal with grief. Ever since I woke up from the coma I've been having weird dreams about another life, a life were I was a musician and an artist but I don't know what to do about them, do I tell Dad or keep to myself. Also ever since I came back I've had a lot of anger and frustration inside of me, so for the past three weeks I've stared going to a fight gym without dad knowing, he just thinks that I meet up with some friends before work. I do feel bad about lying to him but if he knew he would flip, he isn't that keen on hand to hand violence anyway let alone finding out that his little Nicole is a part of it. However, the person I train with, Oliver Lance, is very aggressive in his moves so I've occasionally come into work with a black eye or busted lip covered up by makeup, I don't think that anyone's noticed but I've still got to be careful. On the plus side Sarah has made her self at home in the team and has been helping Dad and Connor with the anomaly matrix thing.

Monday 6th August 2007

I woke up Monday morning at 4 o'clock from another nightmare about Bolivia. I jolted up in bed breathing heavily and sweating. It took me 40 minutes to calm down and when I was calm I got out of bed and got dressed into my gym stuff before packing a gun back with clean clothes and grabbing my work bag. When I was dressed I went downstairs, got in my car and drove down to the studio. I was wearing a pair of black and grey leggings that go under the heel, a grey tank top, a white sports bra, a grey hoodie, a pair of grey trainers and in my purple gym bag I also had a pair of padded training gloves that wrap around my hand, I also had my straight hair down.

It took me 15 minutes to get to the studio and when I got there Oliver was stood outside in a white tee, a pair of grey joggers, a pair of trainers and a gym bag slung over his shoulder. I parked up my car out front of the studio and got out just as Oliver unlocked the door. I followed him inside and we went straight to the fighting rink. We put our bags down, took our shoes off, I took my hoodie off and we both put on our boxing gloves. We got into the center of the rink and fist bumped before getting into fighting stances. Before we stared he said

"How's the ankle?" I really hurt my ankle last week and had to say I twisted it really badly whilst out walking.

"It's good. How's the eye?" I gave him a really badly bruised eye just before I hurt my ankle.

"Healing. Let's get started"

"I've got to be at work for 9"

"Better not knock you around to much then"

"That's never stopped you before". He then made the first moved and went to punch me. I countered his attack by sweeping his feet from underneath him. He did then exact same thing and pinned me down before punching me square across my face.

This process continued for a good few hours and my hair began sticking to my face. I had a black eye, busted lip, a couple of broken ribs and a sprained wrist but I kept going until my phone went off telling me that I had to be at work in an hour. So I took of my gloves, picked up my bag and went to the changing room to get washed and changed. I pinned my hair up and got into the shower at the studio. After a quick shower I got dressed into a pair of ripped jeans, a army green v neck top, a pair of chocolate brown ankle boots, my dog tag and I also had a chocolate brown leather jacket with a hood. Before I put my top of I wrapped a couple of bandages around my torso to help with the broken rips. When I was dressed I put a wrist splint on and got my foundation from my bag to cover up my bruises and cut lip. The bruised muscles around my eye were very sensitive so it took a lot longer to cover up than I thought. I then packed my gym bag up and went out to my car to drive to work which I was now late 20 for.

10 minutes into my drive I was half way to work and I got a call from Jenny, I answered the call through the Bluetooth system in the car.

"Cole, where are you. You're 30 minutes later"

"Oh really, Jen. I hadn't noticed"

"Seriously though where are. Your dads beginning to worry, you're never late for work"

"Look I'm 10 or so minutes away can you just cover for me"

"And say what"

"I don't know, you're the one hired to make up cover stories so think of one"

"Fine just hurry up I can't keep James and Nick off my back forever"

"Thanks Jenny, I owe you one"

"No problem oh and Becker was also wondering were you are" I raised and eyebrow and a sly smile formed on my face. He was really fit and we aren't that different, we both have military experience and we both have similar interests. We've been talking a lot recently.

"Really?"

"Yep and I can hear that you're smiling by the way you're talking"

"What, no I'm not?"

"Yes you are and you're getting all defensive about it" just as she said that I heard my Dad in the background

"is that Cole" Jen then said

"Uh yeah...Cole your dad wants to talk to you"

"Oh fantastic, put him on" about a second later my dads strong Scottish accent came over the phone.

"Where are you?"

"Hello to you too. I'm stuck in traffic. I should be there soon"

"Okay, let me know when you're here"

"Sure. Dad I've got to go traffics moving. See you soon"

"Bye". I ended the call and continued driving to the ARC.

I did get to the ARC eventually and after showing my pass at the gate I parked up but

before I got out of the car I checked my cover up and let my hair down. I got out of the car and got my bag out of the boot before casually walking into the building with my sprained wrist hiding away in my jacket pocket. I got my pass out and showed it to the security team at the entrance only to see that Becker was checking passes today. He turned to face me and said

"40 minutes late, really?"

"I got stuck in traffic". He checked my pass and let me into the building. I walked down the main corridor only to walk past Lester, he then said to me

"You're late!" I then turned to go into my office as I said

"Then fire me" as I entered my office I heard him say

"Don't tempt me, Cole". I closed the door and threw my bag on the sofa in there before taking my jacket off. After getting my phone out of my bag I went to go find dad. I found him in his office scribble stuff down onto the whiteboard. Not realizing that I was in the room I walked over to his desk and sat on it waiting for him to notice me. I watched him work for about five minutes until Sarah came into the room and said to me

"Look who finally decided to show up" dad snapped out of his trance and I sighed and said

"I'm never going to live this down" dad then said

"How long have you been in here"

"About 5 minutes" he then came over and gently picked up my bad wrist and said

"What happened"

"I just knocked it whilst I was out" he gave me a look that was trying to see if I was lying or not. I've become a better lied over the years and can actually look people in the eye now. So I stood my ground and didn't look away. He gave in and let go of my wrist as Connor came into the room. Connor then went to touch the matrix but dad stopped him

"Connor if you touch that you could be changing the entire destiny of the universe" Connor took his hands away and said

"I'm not gonna touch it. I'm just gonna..."

"Good man" Jenny then came in and said

"Woah! Please tell me this all means something" Connor answered her

"This is a 3-D model representing all known anomalies throughout history" Sarah then said

"All cultures have their own mythical beasts, like, Um, the Loch Ness monster" dad then continued

"And my guess is that where there's a myth, we'll find an anomaly. Now all we have to do is date these myths accurately" I then said

"You make it sound so easy" I then got a killer headache and pinched the bridge of my nose, Sarah then asked

"Cole are you alright you look a bit pale" Dad immediately looked at me with concern all across is face. I then said

"I'm fine, I just haven't been sleeping well lately and I've got a headache. I'm gonna go sit in my office for a bit, come get me if anything happens" I got off the desk and walked out of the room. However on my way back to my office I felt my chest tighten and I got really dizzy. The next thing I knew my world went black.

Nicks P.O.V.

After Cole left the room we continued talking about the matrix. Connor spoke first

"It's like a road map of time"

"Then we can start to predict where and when new anomalies might start to open" I pushed one of the metal pole through the matrix carefully as Jenny said

"Call me stupid, but, um, couldn't we have done all this on a computer?" My reply was

"This way is more tangible" Connor then said

"It makes him feel more like god, you know, with the creation thing"

"You know Connor you might be right. But unless I'm very much mistaken. I think we may have made our first prediction". I looked over at them as I said that but the second I finished talking someone shouted for me

"PROFESSOR!" I walked out of the room quickly and down the corridor I saw Becker crouched next to Cole of had her eyes shut and was lying on the floor. I ran over to them and said

"What happened?"

"I don't know she just collapsed" Jenny then said

"Right, Get her to the infirmary". Becker picked her up careful and we went to the infirmary. He placed Cole onto the bed and the med staff began looking her over, we were told to wait outside.

15 minutes later someone came out and said to me

"Has Cole been in some sort of fight or accident in the past few days"

"No she hasn't, Why?"

"Because she had foundation on to cover up a severely bruised eye and a busted lip. So also has small grazes on her knuckles and three broken ribs. Also her ankle shows signs of heeling from a sprain. It looks like she passed out from a concussion or small bone fragments touching her lungs" I was taken back by what he just said and stood there in shock so Jenny spoke for me

"Is she going it be okay"

"She's awake and mobile. I want her to stay in the infirmary for a bit longer just to be sure but she's, how do I put this, she's being" I then said

"She's being Cole. I'll talk to her" Jenny then said

"Right now don't get mad at her just talk to her, Nick" I gave a small nod before walking in the infirmary to see Cole sitting on the bed looking at the left wall hiding the left side of her face. When the other staff members saw me they left the room knowing we'd need some privacy. I then spoke and you could hear the amount of concern in my voice

"Cole" she then shot back

"What?" Her voice was like ice, she was pissed off.

"Look at me" I saw her eyes gloss over as she simply said

"No"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to see the bruises" I sat on the right side of the bed and said

"I'm not going to shout at you, Honey. I just want you to be honest with me"

"Promise me that you won't shout"

"If I did I think Jenny would come in here and kill me". She took a deep breath before turning to look at me. The bruise around her eye was huge and almost black and the cut on her lip was deep and fairly large.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Cole"

"I don't sleep and when I do it's only for like an hour. The nightmares are getting worse. So I've been going to a fight studio to help me work on my anger and frustration. But my training partner is a bit aggressive"

"Why didn't you talk to me about this"

"Because I didn't want to put you through anything else"

"Cole you have got broken ribs and a concussion, not to mention bruises, cuts, a sprained wrist and you're heeling from a sprained ankle. Is you keep this up you're going to get yourself injured severely or worse" she looked away from me again and said

"Well right now that's a good thing"

"What getting yourself killed. How can that be a good thing" a tear fell down her face as she began speaking

"Ever since Stephens death people treated me like I was useless and now I feel useless. 25 children died in Bolivia and it was my fault, I suggested to put them on the helicopter instead of the team and if I hadn't done that they would still be alive"

"But you wouldn't be"

"Yeah but I'd be with Stephen again" I held her hands and said

"I know that you miss him, sweetheart, I miss him too. but that's no reason to put yourself through this. You're killing yourself and seeing you like this...it's breaking my heart" surprisingly she then wrapped her arms around me and said quietly

"I don't know what's going on with me"

"It's okay, it's called grief. You've lost a lot of people that you care about recently"

"What do I do"

"You keep going but you don't lock yourself away, you talk to someone about it" after about five minutes I said

"I've got a task for the team. You can stay here or go with them, it's up to you"

"But the doc said I have to stay"

"As long as you're careful you can go"

"Okay but can you do me a favor"

"Yeah sure"

"Tell the team not to bring this up and then can you bring me my bag from the office" I stood up but before I left the room I said

"You scared the hell out Becker by the way"

"Shut up". I then left the room and spoke to the team.

"Okay nobody mentions this again, am I Understood Conner"

"Perfectly"

"Go to the ops room and wait there. Jenny a word" we stepped aside and I said

"Coles going to go check out the location with you but I want you to keep a close eye on her. She's not dealing with things as well as we'd hoped"

"Are you sure that's wise Nick"

"She needs to be doing something and not just sitting in her office, she needs to be treated like nothing's happened"

"But a lot has happened and it's stuff that we can't just forget about. She lost Stephen and then the Bolivia incident, she's unstable right now and in the field that can be dangerous"

"Or useful. Right now her mind is working differently than you and I so she could think of something useful to get out of a tricky situation. Please Jenny just keep an eye on her"

"Fine"

"Thank you. Go join the others I'll be there in a few minutes" she then walked off and I went l get Coles bag and jacket.I gave it to her and then went to check on the matrix.

Coles P.O.V.

After I had put the cover up on my bruised eye and was given pain killers I joined the team in the ops room with my jacket and bag in hand. I went and stood next to Becker and he spoke first

"Are you okay?"

"Why did I scare you?"

"A little bit yeah"

"I'm okay, just dealing with a lot right now"

"I gathered" I tired my hair back and he just looked at me like he wanted to ask me something. So I said

"What do,you want to ask?"

"Huh?"

"I know that look you want to ask something, so just ask"

"Okay...do you want to get a drink later" I thought about what he said and over his shoulder I could see Abby nodding her head at us. I then said

"I'd like that". Dad then came into the room with Sarah behind him ruining the moment.

"All right, listen up! We've analyses the most recent anomalies and out them into the model. The prediction is specific and local, but there's a problem. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen many years from now" he then said to Jenny

"I want you and Cole to go and check it out. And take Sid and Nancy with you" he was referring to Abby and Connor. When Dad mentioned me a couple of weary looks were sent my way but I ignored them. Sarah then said

"Um, I'll go, too"

"No, I need you here" Becker then said

"I should handle this" Jenny then butted in

"No, no, Cutters right. We'll go" dad looked at me and said

"Is anything happens, you call me". I nodded before putting my jacket back on. He then walked out and shouted for Sarah. She then said

"Help! I've been taken hostage by an obsessive scientist" I sniggered and Connor shouted

"Welcome to our world!". I gave Becker a look before following the team out of the building and down to the cars. Jenny and I were in one, Sid and Nancy were in the other.

It took us 20 minutes but we eventually arrived at the location. We got out of the cars and I slung my bag over my shoulders and we walked towards this old house. As we got to a old bridge Connor said

"This is the place" and he pointed to the big house across the river.

"This is where dad predicted the anomaly will open" Jen then said

"We'd better check it out" Connor then said

"Then what? We just sit twiddling our thumbs until an anomaly appears"

"Yeah, something like that" as Abby, Jen and I walked over the bridge we heard Connor say

"Hold me back. I don't think k can take the excitement" I turned to him and said

"Come on, Connor what's the worst that could happen". He did catch up with us just as we got to the other side of the bridge.

After checking the front door Connor went around the house to try and find another way in whilst the rest of us just looked inside through windows. Abby then said

"Seems quiet enough" I turned to look at Jenny who was pushing the door bell. The door then opened and she jumped back slightly.

"Oh, Connor" he was stood in the doorway.

"Window was open. Nobody in". He stepped aside and we walked into the house. Despite the awful smell the house was amazing. Jen spoke first

"What happened here?" Abby then said

"This place must be worth millions. Why has it just been left" Connor then said

"The smell, maybe? Stinks in here" Jen then said

"Could be the sewers, or maybe some damp" I then said

"It's more like they've been keeping animals" con then aid

"What kind of animals, skunks?" I followed Jen upstairs to look around leaving Abby and Connor.

As I got to the top of the stairs I said

"Maybe the owners are abroad" Jen then said

"Well we'll keep watch for a while, but we can't stay here indefinitely just to satisfy Cutter's latest whim". I was surprised by what she said and then went into another room saying

"What you think he's wrong?"

"I think he's crazy but not necessarily wrong"

"Seems like he's getting beneath your skin"

"Cole, have you...have you ever been attracted to somebody that you...you don't even like?"

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just ask me that. But one thing I do know. If you're interested, don't bother waiting for dad to make the first move, you will die of old age before anything happens"

"You gonna take your own advice?"

"Thinking about it"

"So you're going on a date with Becker"

"I was wondering how long it take to bring this up. We're just getting drinks"

"You like him don't you"

"He's nice and we've got so much in common. It's just right now I'm dealing with a lot of shitty stuff"

"We know but you can't keep living in the past, it's not good for you". She then picked up some police tape that said 'crime scene- do not cross'. We shared a confused look before going back downstairs. We met Connor and Abby and then walked out.

"Well that was eventful" after I had said that a deep voice then said

"It's a nice place, isn't it? Do you care to explain what you're doing here?" Jen then did what she did best

"Just visiting"

"Well, the way I see it, you're either burglars or trespassers"

"Do we look like burglars to you?" Connor them sniggered and the copper said

"Well, I'm pretty sure I've seen laughing boy on a wanted poster, yeah" Connor then said

"Is he talking about me" Jen then said

"Oi, officer..."

"Detective Constable Quinn. And you are?"

"We're property developers"

"You're lying. I should arrest you all, but to be quite frank, I can be bothered. You people aren't worth the paperwork. Now go". We walked past him but Connor had to say something else

"What do you mean 'you people'?" We all spun around and Quinn said

"Murder tourists. You make me sick. Now, get out. And if I see you round here again your feet won't touch the ground. You understand?" I then said

"Come on" but Connor had to be Connor so he said

"Do you know what? Can k just say that I think the police do a fantastic job? And you know the occasional lapse into cliche is completely understandable in the circumstances" Abby the grabbed his arm and lead him away.

When we got,to the other side of the bridge I said

"There's something strange going on in there" Jen said

"Agreed. Abby stay here. If anything out of the ordinary happens, call us" I followed Jen as Abby shouted

"To get some answers" as we got closer to the cars she shouted back

"Connor you're coming with us".

We drove around until we came across someone that could help. We saw this man with housing agency signs, the same kind that was at the house. So we got out of the car and went to talk to him. Jen got his attention

"Excuse me"

"Hello" I then said

"We just wanted to ask you some questions about a property"

"Oh yeah. Which one?"

"The abandoned house on Rymans"

"Oh yeah, you interested?" Connor then said

"Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're looking, aren't we, darling?" He put his arm around Jen and I struggled to hold back a laugh when she elbowed him in the stomach. Connor then said

"Wondered why it hasn't sold yet"

"Oh, you know the markets been a bit soft"

"That's not the only reason, thought. Something happened there, didn't it?"

"Oh, you mean the kids" I then said

"Kids?"

"Three of them. Local lads. They broke into the house for a laugh"

"What happened?"

"They disappearance. Not a trace of them since. Fourteen years"

"There must be some explanation"

"Well only one of them ever came out. Bot called Ryan Mason"

"Mason?"

"Yeah Ryan Mason. Man, some people still say the place is haunted. They hear scream, noises. If you're interested, I can get you a killer deal, now." He handed Jen a business card and she said

"We'll um we'll think about it"

"You'd better be quick. I'm going to get rid of it soon"

"thanks" he then drove off and as we walked out the cars Jen said

"We need to track down this Ryan Mason, I'll make a call" Connor then said

"Cole, you alright. When that guy mentioned the kids you grabbed hold of your dog tags"

"Uh, yeah. Just brought back some bad memories"

We did eventually find this Ryan Mason, and when we did w was at work which is on a merry-go-round . We followed him into it with Jenny saying

"Ryan? Ryan can we talk to you"

"Ryan..." he hen said

"Just leave me alone"

"But you are Ryan Mason?" He then said

"You ain't paid" I wondered why he said that but I then saw Connor come round the corner and one of the horses. Connor then said

"Always fancied this job" I then said

"Ryan, we know that you didn't harm your friends" Connor then said

"We just want to know what happened in the house, mate. It must have driven you crazy all these years, knowing that people thought you were a killer when you've done nothing wrong" we all then stopped and talked.

"I heard this terrible screaming. There was this light shining, it wasn't there before" after Ryan said that I said

"Was it flickering?"

"How'd you know"

"I just ran. Screaming. It looked like an animal. No animal I'd ever heard. Never saw my mates again... Look, this is my job. Please, no one here knows"

"We understand" Jen then said

"You've got nothing to blame yourself for, Ryan" he then said

"I've been back to that house a thousand times since and never once had the guts to go back in. But I will". Ryan then went one way and the rest of us got off the merry-go-round and went back to the cars.

When we got back to the house Abby was at the bottom of the stairs with her eyes shut but moving, that's when doctor mode kicked in

"Abby?!" I ran to her with Connor and helped her sit up. She came around completely and said

"Must have fallen"

"Abby's look at me for a second" I pulled a small touch from my bag and shinned it in her eyes to check the reaction. Jen then said

"Abby, what happened"

"Well, I was upstairs. I thought I saw someone in the bedroom, you see. Um, I can't remember after that"

"We should get you to a doctor. Cole what do you say"

"In simple terms so Connor can understand, I'd say she's got a concussion and possibly a broken rib or two. We should take her to be checked out anyway" Jen then said to Connor

"Okay, you stay here, but wait outside" I held Abby's arm and helped her out do the house. We got into the car and drove to the A&E department leaving Connor at the house.

Whilst we were at the hospital Abby was diagnosed to have a concussion and broken ribs just like I said. She was given some strong pain killers like mine and was sent in her way. When we got back to the house Jen got a call

"Connor?... What?... oh, for heavens sake, I'm coming" she ended the call and said

"Connor's in jail" Abby then said

"All right, I'll stay here and watch the house"

"I'll stay with her"

"Abby are you sure you're okay?"

"Do,you what? It's fine. I slipped, that's all. Honestly, go"

"I'll be back as soon as I can, stay outside the house and for god sake be careful" I then said

"Give him our love". Jen then drove away and I sat on the front of the car.

Soon enough night drew in and we had moved to sit in the car, Abby was listening to music and I was in my phone, until we heard a bike bell chime. We looked at and saw a little girl in a red coat ridding her bike down the street ringing the bell as if to get somethings attention. So we got out of the car and followed her to be sure. As we got down a street we heard in human screeching. So we ran towards the little girl.

"Hey! Hey!"

We then saw he bike on the floor upturned with the wheel still spinning. And then only a few feet from the bike was a creature ripping into something, it was unclear what it was but to be safe we back away and hid behind a bush. Whilst I was watching the creature Abby tapped my arm and pointed into the tree. Sat on one of the branches was the little girl and she was throwing sausages down for the creature. Any took a step forward and snapped a twig causing the creature to turn around and stare at us. It then camouflaged and ran off. After we helped the little girl down, Abby picked up her bike and we walked with her down the street.

She then said so innocently

"Don't be scared. It won't hurt us. I look after it. I feed it so it doesn't eat Alvie or the other pets. Everyone here pretends it's not real, but it is. I have to stop it from being bad, it's my job" I crouched in front of her and said

"Emily, What you've done is incredible brave. It's okay now, you can leave that to us now, okay?"

"It lives in that house, please don't go in there" Abby then said

"Don't worry, we won't.".

By the time we had walked the little girl how and got back to the house the sun had risen and it was morning. Abby called Jenny as soon as we got back

"The creature can camouflage itself. That's why we didn't see it" she hung up the phone and said

"She's calling Becker for back up". I then looked over the rive and saw Ryan going through a gate towards the house.

"Hey! Don't go inside the house"he went inside and I said to Abby

"Call Jen back, tell her in going in" I pulled a gun from my bag and ran after Ryan. I didn't bother waiting for approval. I kicked the door open and went in with my gun up. At this point my military instincts had kicked in so I was on full alert and constantly scanning my surroundings. I hen heard scurrying from the room next to the lobby, so I headed towards it with my gun up and armed. When I was in the room I spun around but then heard growling coming from behind something so I went towards it and a terrified Ryan came out

"Don't shot"

"Ryan what are you doing"

"I had to come back here. I had to know the truth"

"Yeah? well, your timings lousy" I grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind me. We left the room an I still and my gun up, Ryan was close behind. Things then fell in front of the door blocking our exit. We back off but then the creature started throwing things at us. We still couldn't see the bloody thing. We wine to run upstairs but the creature cut us off in the banister. I went to shoot it but the other three burst through the door and the creature was gone.

"Cole!"

"Wait!"

"Okay"

"It's upstairs"

"yeah". They came onto the stairs in front of me and Connor asked

"You okay"

"Yeah" Jen then said

"After you"

"Thanks very much" he raised his gun and walked up the stairs, I turned to Ryan and said

"You wait here".

All four of us had guns and Connor was leading. He turned to go into a room when we heard scurrying from the bathroom. We surrounded the bath tub and Abby pulled back the curtain revealing the estate agent from before. He began screaming for help but Connor put his hand over his mouth. Jen then said

"Shh! Trust me, we can get you out of here. But you've got to stay calm and don't make any noise" he nodded and then Connor said

"Okay? I'm going to take my hand away now" he nodded again but the second Connor took his hand away the estate agent began yelling and he pushed Connor into the bath and then pushed past us.

"Ow!"

"Connor" we helped him, out and then heard screaming. We ran to the top of the stairs and saw the creature digging into the guys back, yeah he was dead. We made our way down the stairs slowly as Ryan stood over the dead body.

Quinn then came though saying

"What did you do with the others, Ryan?"

"It was a creature" Quinn pulled out a gun, pointed it a Ryan and said

"What did you do with my brother?" I pointed my gun at Quinn as a reflex and said

"Put the gun down Quinn. You've got it all wrong"

"You stay out of this" Jen then said

"This is out of your jurisdiction, DC Quinn! You're dealing with things you don't understand"

"I under stand that this little creep killed my little brother" Connor then said

"Look, just wait..." Quinn pointed the gun and Connor but only for a second

"Shut up!" He then shot the ceiling. And the aimed it back at Ryan. He ,over the gun forward and I said

"Don't make me do this Quinn" he ignored me and said it Ryan

"He was my little brother" Abby then shouted

"Look out!" The creature dived on Quinn and began scratching his chest. It then camouflaged and Jen aimed her gun up. It was jumping all around the the place and Connor said in frustration

"Uh stay still" the anomaly detector then went off in Jens hands

"An anomaly" she looked up and said referring to the creature

"Where's it gone". We moved though the house and into the room I found Mason in. Standing in front of the anomaly was the creature. Connor and I got behind it and I said

"We've got a clear shot" Abby stopped us

"Wait"

"What?"

"It's been waiting years for the anomaly to reappear. It wants to got home". The creature tuned and screamed at us before running through the anomaly.

Jenny then stood in front of the anomaly as Abby said

"So Cutter called it right. The anomaly came back" Ryan then questioned

"Is it gone?" Before anyone could answer a scream came from the anomaly causing Jen to jump back as the creature came back through. But before any of us could react Quinn came through the door and shouted

"Get down!" He shot the creature 8 times before it fell back through, dead of course,. The rest of us stared at Quinn in confusion and then he tapped in his chest and said

"Anti-stab vest. Standard police issue" Connor then said

"I have so got to get one of them" Quinn the turned to Jen and said

"I suppose an explanation is out of the question?"

"Totally"

"Yeah I thought so".

The ARC back up then arrived and began boarding up the doors and windows. After speaking to Becker I went to stand next to Quinn. I spoke first

"So what's your name or do I have to keep calling you Quinn"

"Danny, my names Danny. And what can I call you"

"Names Nicole Cutter. But you can call me Cole"

"They never found my brothers body. Maybe the creature didn't get him. Maybe he went through the..."

"The Anomaly"

"Yeah" I looked over at Becker and said

"You know that was a long time ago, Danny. Take it from someone who knows what it's like to lose a lot of people, let go of the past it can't be changed"

"You're right" he then walked away and Jenny and Connor came over, Connor was on the phone, presumably to dad.

"I just phoned cutter. Told him he was right about his prediction."Jen the asked

"What did he say?"

"What his words exactly"

"Mmm-hmm"

"Something like 'of course I was right" he said that last part in a Scottish accent and it was kind of funny. We then met up with Abby and drove back to the ARC.

We've been back at the ARC for about 50 minutes and it turns out that whilst we were at the house the cleaner for the shopping centre, when we were dealing with the raptors, had broken into the ARC and Into dads locker for one of his jackets or something. Dad thinks that Helens back and that didn't sit well with me. I hate that woman with a passion and I don't know how I'll react if I see her again, will I lash out or just do nothing, Stephen died because of her, Amy died because of her and I've almost died because of her. As I was in my office putting some books away thinking about the past with my headphones in someone came up behind me and put their hands on my shoulders. Instinctively I turned around and pushed them against the wall to the right of the bookshelf, my head phones fell out as I did that and my iPod fell to the floor. After I had done that I saw that it was Becker that scared me and now had my hands on his shoulders pushing him against the wall. I sighed, took my hands away and said

"Don't do that again" he smirked at me and said

"Why. Did I scare you" I bent over and picked up iPod up as I said

"You scared the hell out of me. Why'd you do that, anyway" I turned around and saw the he wasn't in his uniform, he was wearing a black tee shirt, a pair of jeans, a grey hoodie, a pair of grey converse and his hair was messed up, he looked really hot. He then said

"When I came in a noticed that you had headphones in and took the chance to make you jump. Our shift is over so I came to see if you wanted to get that drink"

"You did more than make me jump. You scared me half to death. And I'd love to go get that drink". I picked my bag and jacket up walked out of the ARC with him. As we walked down the corridor I noticed that we were two of the only people left in the building, not even Dad was here.

When we got to the car park I got into Becker's car, leaving my car there to get tomorrow, I'd just get a lift with dad in the morning. The drive to the pub was filled with nice flowing and funny chat. I think I really like Becker but I'm not 100% sure if I'm over Stephen yet, I kinda am but not fully, not yet anyway. The car stopped outside this nice looking pub. We got out of the car and went inside. I ordered a Long Island Iced Tea (made with Tequila, vodka, light rum, triple sec, gin, and a splash of cola) and he ordered a normal fosters pint because he was driving. The place was pretty empty so there were no shortage of seat and we chose to sit in a corner booth at the far side of the room. Once again the chat was flowing and I was actually having fun. As the night went on we ordered a couple plates of chips and I had two Long Island Iced Tea. We were there for a couple of hours before he drove me home.

He pulled up outside my house 10 minutes later. I sat in the car for a minute before saying

"Thanks for the drinks and driving me home"

"It's no problem. I had fun tonight"

"So did I... I would invite you in for a coffee but knowing Dad he's probably waiting for me to come home. God I need my own place"

"Maybe next time"

"So there's going of be a next time"

"If you'd like to do this again"

"I'd love to do this again". I was looking in his eyes as I was talking and when I finished we both leaned in but before our lips met my phone began ringing. I pulled away and got my phone out of my bag only to see that dad was ringing me, I sighed and said

"I'm going to kill him" I looked at Becker and he said

"Aren't you going to answer it". I thought about it and said

"No" I pressed the red button, threw my phone back in my bag and then face Becker again. He then tucked some stay hairs behind my ear but kept his hand there, that's when we finally kissed. The kiss was sweet and felt amazing, pins and needles surged through my body as his other hand went out the other side of my face. The kiss went on for a few minutes and we both pulled away at the same time.

When I caught my breath I said

"I'd better get going before dad calls again. I'll see you tomorrow"

"I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Cole"

"Goodnight Becker". After a final peck on the lips I got out of the car and walked to the front door. As I opened it I waved at him before he drove off and I entered the house. I shut the door behind me and leant up against feeling amazing, just then my dads voice came from the living room

"And what time do you call this?" I pushed off against the door and made my way upstairs saying

"How old am I?"

"Not old enough to use a phone"

"Funny".i then shut my bedroom door and went to bed feeling out of this world.


	4. Chapter 4: Cutter's Last Goodbye

Cole's P.O.V.

My first date with Becker was three weeks ago and since then I have got my own apartment. It's not the biggest of places but it's fine for a first apartment and has everything I need. Becker and I went out again a week after the first date and he took me to this nice romantic restaurant and We ended up going back to his apartment. I think it's safe to say that my romantic feelings for Stephen are gone but I do still miss him. I haven't been back to train with Oliver instead Becker has been helping me by training with me at his place.

So anyway it's 7:30 and I was at Becker's training. However I wasn't focused and Becker noticed it. He pinned me up against the wall and said

"You're not focused"

"I know"

"Why?"

"You"

"Me?"

"I can't focus when I'm around you. All I can think about is you and completely forget about everything else...and you being this close to me isn't helping the matter" as we were talking he had slowly closed the gap between us and was really, really close to me. He then said

"Why am I making you uncomfortable"

"Not really, Um do you mind if I use your shower" he pulled away and said

"No go ahead. You know where it is" I walked past him and when I got to the bathroom door I pulled my top over my head and then left the door open slightly. I pinned my hair up and got into the shower. Five minutes later a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and a warm breath was on my neck. I then said as he began kissing my neck

"What took you so long" he trailed the kisses up to my ear lobe and then said

"I'm an idiot" I turned in his grasp and connected our lips. I guess you know what happened next.

When we were finished we got dressed. He got dressed into a pair of jeans, a plain white top, a blue hoodie and a pair of blue converse. I wore a pair of black shorts with rips in them, a grey tank top with a low cut back, a pair of grey converse, my dog tags, a black hoodie, I also let my hair dry naturally so it was wavy and had some curls in. Before I put my hoodie on he said

"Okay how am I meant to focus when you where a top like that" I looked over my shoulder, smirked and said

"Why do think I'm wearing it"

We had something to eat before going to the ARC. Becker got changed and after I put my bag and hoodie in my office I went to the matrix room. Becker soon joined us and shortly after so did Lester, as he entered the room he said

"You know, I've always liked modern art. So uncompromising" dad then said

"Yeah, it's a very complex model of the exact locations and dates..."

"Of anomaly appearances throughout recorded history. Yes, I know"

"Just don't touch it" Lester carefully moved around one of the metal poles and then turned to Becker and said

"Any news of Helen Cutter?" I tensed slightly at the mention of her name and that didn't go unnoticed by dad who placed a reassuring hand in my arm.

"I've instigated a complete review of security"

"You sure the intruder was her doing?" I then said

"It had to have been. The man was severely injured by a raptor and then was eaten in the Silurian desert" dad then said

"Cole's right. I can't think of anybody else who could create an exact copy of a dead man"

"Keep everyone on high alert. If Helens back, we should all be very worried". We all then went to see what Connor was a up to. He was in the main ops room sorting out some cables, i hoped up on one of the work stations next to Connor getting a closer look at the thing he was building. Lester spoke first

"So, this contraption is going to seal the anomalies, is it?"

"Uh... in theory, yeah"

"You knew after a million pounds' worth of research and development, I'm hoping for something a little more than theoretical" dad then began defending Connor

"And you'll get it. I mean, in simple terms, this machine will reverse the polarity of the anomalies so that nothing gets in and nothing gets out" James was then called away and dad walked closer to Connor.

"You sure about this?"

"Pretty sure" Connor let out a nervousness chuckle before the alarms went off. I jumped of the counter and ran to get my hoodie and gun. When I came out dad told me that it was in a hospital so he let me drive to get there faster.

We got to the hospital in no time and when we got there dad immediately ga e out orders

"Becker, take your men. Look for any creature activity" Becker lead the men away and did what he was told. But then the lights flickered a bit

"Power cut. Hospitals back up generator should kick in any minute, come on" we followed dad and after about 10 minutes we found the anomaly in an operating theatre. I pushed the gurney aside and got a proper look at the anomaly, it was going through the the floor.

"It's come right though the floor" Abby then questioned

"So if you walked through, would you keep on falling?" Dad answered

"I don't know. But the anomaly it's self would cause a power cut so somethings come through" I looked to my left and saw a hole in the wall

"Dad" he looked to where I was looking and we moved stuff out if the way to get a better look.

"Teeth marks" Abby then said

"Hyperactive mice". We left the room and met up with the others.

When we met up with them Connor and dad where speaking but my attention was directed else where when someone called my name

"Cole, is that you" I turned and saw a familiar face. My best mate from medical school

"Johnny" I went up to him and hugged him, I then said

"Hey. How have you been"

"I've been good, life's good. What about you last I heard you where in the military"

"Oh yeah. I got injured and was sent home"

"So what's the deal with the soldiers"

"If I could tell you I would". Connor then came up to us and said to Johnny

"You work here right"

"Yeah"

"Right we need to get this place evacuated"

"I can't do that it would cause mass panic" I then said

"Johnny we wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary. So please can you get this place evacuated"

"I guess you can't tell me why"

"I can't. But you're going to have to trust me"

"Okay, I'll get the word out"

"Thank you Johnny. I owe you one" he went one way and we went the other.

As we were walking down one of the corridors with Becker, he said to me

"So who was that?" I smiled and said

"Why does it matter"

"I'm just interested"

"Oh my god your jealous"

"No I'm not"

"Yes you are"

"Can we drop this"

"If you really want to know I went to med school with him, he was my best friend". We then went into a mother room when I got I call from dad

"Dad?"

"We're trapped in the operating theatre with the anomaly and a women that's about to give birth. So I really need you guys out here as quick as you can okay"

"We're on our way". I put the phone down turned to the other two and said

"Where are the operating theatres" Becker answered me

"No idea" Connor then said

"We need to find someone who works here. Cole what about Johnny" before I could say anything Becker said

"I'm a trained solider I can find my way around a hospital"

After about ten minutes of looking Becker said in frustration

"How hard can it be to find a operating theatre in a hospital" Connor then said

"What was that you said about being a trained solider" sparks then came from the ceiling and a few of the panels began moving, Becker said to Connor

"Catch it"

"What do you mean catch it" Becker pushed him forward and repeated

"Catch it"

"Alright". I stood back in amusement as Connor grabbed a laundry bin and attempted to catch what ever was in the ceiling. A small little Yelp then accrued when the creature fell through the ceiling. I went over and saw a really small, cute creature shaking it's head in the bin. Connor then said

"Hello mate, My name's Connor, this is Cole and..." Becker shot him a look "my names Connor. If I'm not mistaken you're a Diictodon, right" The cure creature gave out little helps of excitement and curiosity. Becker then cleared his throat and stood up straight

"Cutter" he said, embarrassed and pulled the blanket over the cart to hide the creature.

We continued trying to find dad and Abby. Becker pushed open a operating theatre door only to find the room empty. Becker then said

"They're not here"

Suddenly the Diictodon started making a new sound. Connor lifted the blanket so that we can see a distressed looking creature. Connor then asked

"Hey. What are you trying to tell us?" Becker then said sarcastically

"Oh, fantastic. Now he's Dr Doolittle" I smacked his arm and Connor then said

"Sh! He wasn't making that noise before" we all shut up and listened. I then said

"Can you hear that?". Connor then said

"Follow me" so we did.

We followed him to a room that had a IV pole stuck through the door handles. They were trapped in on purpose. I pulled it out but Becker stopped me from going in. He insisted on going in first. He held his gun yo and swung the door open. The only danger in the room was waking io a new born baby that dad was holding in his arms. Dad hushed us and that's when I noticed that Abby was holding something to her chest that seemed to be wrapped up in dads jacket. I raised an eyebrow at her but she just smiled in response.

I then looked towards where the anomaly was but saw it has closed. I felt sad for the now stranded Diictodon behind me. I already knew that con and Abby would take him in and be a part of there growing prehistoric creature family.

A nurse then came in to check on the baby and the new mother. Dad then said to the lady

"Okay. I'm going to have to go. The nurse will look after you now. Okay?"

"Thank you, for everything"

"Do you knew what you're going to call him?"

"I don't know I only had girls names ready. Do you think... Do you think he'd be ok if I called him erm-"

She looked between me and dad and continued

"Stanley? I knows it's old-fashioned. I was my dads name" dad smiled and said to Stanley

"See you around, Stanley" as we walked out of the room she said

"That's your daughter, isn't it. The one you told me about" I looked up at dad to see him smirking. He nodded at the lady and headed back to the door. I followed after feeling confused but happy. This was a really good day for us, no deaths and no attacks just a couple of cute little Diictodon.

I then said once we were out of the room completely

"So who locked you in?"

"I don't know".

When we got back to the ARC the gate was wide open so when we parked the cars Becker said

"They should have checked our passes at the gate" Dad then said

"Your men are getting the slack" I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Becker then kissed the side of my head and said

"I'm going to have a little word with security" I nodded at him and I could tell he was mad. I then followed the others into the building. Something was wrong because there was nobody walking around. We went through the double doors and heard multiple guns being loaded. As a reflex I got my gun out and pointed it up towards the noise only to be outnumbered 20/1. Every man holding a gun was completely identical. I then felt a nuzzle of a gun press up against my back and then the voice of the person I hate most of all

"I don't want to kill you yet, Cole, so put the gun down" I looked towards Lester's office and saw Helen leaning up against the door frame. I looked back at dad and he gave a small nod telling me to give up the gun, so I held it up and the solider behind me took it away. That's when another version of dad came into the room but was wearing all black. I shared a confused look with con and Abby before saying

"It's you" dad turned around and flinched when he saw his double. Helen the joined us and said

"Put Connor and Abby with the others. It's time for a family reunion". Connor and Abby were taken out of the room as Helen walked behind me and said

"Look at you, all grown up. And a solider now, such a terrible thing that happened in Bolivia" I spun around and said

"How do you know about Bolivia?" She then jabbed a needle into my neck and said

"Ive been planning this for a while and I had to know how much of a risk you would be, sweetheart, so I'm taking you out of the equation" when she pulled the needle out my legs immediately felt like jelly. I fell to the floor and dad was at my side in a second. He then said to Helen

"What the hell have you done"

"Oh don't panic, she'll live. She just won't be able to use her legs for a few hours" I then said with panic in my voice

"Dad I can't feel my legs" Helen then once again said

"Oh that's a side effect. It should wear off eventually. Now take my daughter to her office and keep her there, lock the door or hand cuff her there, she will not interfere. Oh and don't be afraid to beat her up a bit". My head snapped up as a couple of the soldiers came over and pulled me away from dad, they then held my arms and dragged me out of the room with my legs dragging across the floor. As we were leaving I said

"Dad, don't leave me alone"

"Just stay calm Cole. I'll come and get you when I can". I was dragged down the corridor and as we passed a storage room I heard Jenny's voice

"COLE!"

"JENNY, HELP ME!"

"WE CANT GET OUT"

"PLEASE HELP ME" I felt a tear roll down my face as I was begging for help. For the first time in over a year I was actually scared for my life. Helen is the only person who scares me because of everything she's done. We got to my office and after I was chucked onto the floor a foot connected with my chest. I was punch and kicked for at least 20 minutes before one of my hands were handcuffed to the desk. The guards left locking the door behind the and I soon fell unconscious.

Becker's. P.O.V -

When I realized that the ARC was completely over run by Helens men. So I crept through the ARC to get to the others. I tapped the guard on the shoulder and punched him so he was out cold, I then opened the door and dragged him into the room where the others where. When I stood up I saw that Jenny, Sarah, Abby, Connor and Lester where in the room but No Cole, I also noticed that Jenny had a few tears running down her face. I then asked

"Where's Cole" Lester spoke first

"We don't know, she was brought by about 20 minutes ago but we don't know where she was taken" I looked around and saw that they were keeping something else from me

"And, what aren't you telling me?" Jenny then said

"When I saw her, I shouted for her. She replied begging for help, she sounded so scared. I've never heard her voice like that" I turned for the door and said

"I've got to find her" Sarah stopped me

"Becker, wait. We've got a way to stop Helen but we need you to help Connor get to the PA system. How many men have you got with you"

"Just me, should be enough and why?...actually doesn't matter, you come with me he rest of you stay here" Connor and I then headed to the PA room.

When we got there a guard was in The room so Connor ran to the door with my standing next to him against the wall.

"Hi" Connor ducked and I began fighting the clone. I knocked him out but he landed on Connors arm

"Becker" I lifted the guy up and said

"Come on temple hurry up" Connor ran to the laptop whilst I stood watch at the door.

I then heard Connor crying out in pain and when I turned around the clone was up and pushing the laptop into Connors fingers. I began fighting the clone again but he knocked me to the ground and went back for Connor. Connor picked up a book and was smacking him round the face

"I can handle this temple"

"I can't" Connor went to click the enter key but was out in a headlock. When I got the clone to release Connor I said

"Punch him" he did but It was a pretty pathetic punch.

"Really" Connor ran back to the laptop and I punched the clone Around the face. Helens voice then echoed through the ARC

"Stop Do nothing, obey my voice".

We couldn't celebrate for long because after a few minutes there was an explosion.

After some sort of bomb went off Connor and I went back to get the others out. I shoved the door open and sent the team past us and out to safety. However all I could think was Cole, no knew where she is and it's worrying me. Connor then grabbed my attention

"We need to find Cutter". So we went further into the building hoping to find Nick.

"Cutter"

"Professor" as we were yelling for him we heard coughing coming from the matrix room.

"Cutter" Conner went into the room and helped Nick up slightly. I then said

"Where's Cole"

"She's locked in her office. But there's something else, she can't walk"

"What do you mean"

"Helen saw her as a threat so she temporarily took away the use of her legs"

"Okay, Connor get cutter out, I'll get Cole" cutter then said

"No I'm getting my daughter out" I didn't want to argue with him I just wanted Cole back safely, so we all went to get her.

When we got close to her office we could hear her shouting for help, so I shouted back

"COLE!"

"Becker, get me out of here, please" we got to the door and I kicked it down. Nick went in first closely followed by me. I went to Coles side and noticed that she was handcuffed to her desk and that she wouldn't look at me, instead her hair covered her face. I grabbed a paper clip from her desk and worked on unlocking the cuffs. Her dad then said

"Can you feel your legs yet"

"No. dad the smokes really bad" she then coughed a lot.

"Just and more second and then we can get you out" just as I said that the cuff unlocked so I scoped her up and went outside, being careful not to get her burnt.

When we got outside I sat Cole on the back of one of the cars and saw why she had hid her face from me. She have multiple bruises and her lip was cut in two places. I tucked a piece of her behind her ear but she looked away. I then said

"What happened"

"Two of the clones followed orders given by Helen to beat me up" she coughed again and I got a oxygen mask on her. Nick then said

"Where's Helen"

"She must still be inside" was Jenny's reply. I then watched as he picked up a torch and headed back towards the building. Jenny stopped him but I couldn't hear what they were saying. When he began walking away again Cole went to get up but fell, I caught her waist and held her up whilst her dad came over. She spoke first

"Don't go in there"

"I have to"

"Why, after everything she's done to us, why go back for her"

"It's the right thing to do"

"If you won't listen to Jen, please listen to me, I've lost too many people I can't loose you too, please stay with me, I've got bad feeling about this" he smiled and said

"Quoting Claudia Brown won't change my mind"

"You know I got my memories back"

"I won't be long" Nick then turned to me and said

"Keep her out here" I nodded and he went into the building. Cole leant her head against my chest in exhaustion as she watched her father run into a burning after the women who has tried to kill Cole multiple times. I sat her back on the car and went to check on everyone who was injured.

Coles P.O.V

The feeling in my legs came back slowly but 15 minutes after dad ran into the building I stood up and my legs felt normal. Then a big burst of flames came from the top of the building, I heard Jenny say

"He's been gone to long", Abby then came to my side and said

"Be careful" I looked at her, nodded and then ran into the building. I heard Becker shout for me as I entered the building but I ignored him and kept going.

"DAD!" My voice echoed through the empty space as I desperately tried to find him.

"DAD, CAN YOU HEAR ME" as I passed one of the rooms I heard a grunt. I went back into the room and saw dad on the floor with a bullet hole in his chest.

"Daddy"

"I told you to stay outside". Tears blurred my vision as I ran to his side. He had his back up against some debris and blood was slowly oozing from his chest. I had to cover my mouth to hold back a sob.

"You know I don't follow orders" I sounded hurt. He turned to me, years in his own eyes but smiled as much as he could.

"Nicole" he whispered my name as if he was about to say goodbye.

"No, I'm getting you out of here" I grabbed his arm and tried to help him up. But he cried out in pain which made me put him back down.

"D-don't" he stuttered softly. "Don't. Do that"

"Sorry" a tear managed to slide down down my cheek as I spoke. He didn't let his tears fall as he gently placed a hand in my face. He wiped the tear away like he's done a 100 of times before. I leant into his hand and closed my eyes to savour the moment.

"It's okay. Just sit with me" I opened my eyes and he never lost his little smile.

I sat back against he debris next to him. After everyone I've lost it was so hard to go against my instincts that were telling me to get him out of there. He took my hand in his and I rested my head on his shoulder. He leaned his on top of mine. The tears were following uncontrollably as I cried to myself silently and listened to my dad's unsteady breathing.

"Alright" he whispered and kissed my head. Neither of us said anything until he reached for something.

"Listen to me, Cole" I nodded so He knew I was listening. He brought out a long, old, ruined looking artefact and continued speaking

"This matters. I don't know why. But it does"

He placed it in my trembling hands and said

"I need you to help Connor find out what this means for me, okay?"

"I promise. We'll work on it together" I whispered referring to Connor. My dad smiled slightly more.

"It's on you now. The teams yours" he sighed and closed his eyes momentarily.

"No,no, no. You promised me that you wouldn't leave me. I can't lose you too! I don't know if I can go through this again" I cried and put the artefact to the side.

"Please don't leave me. You and I can do this together! We can do it together like we have since the start".

He let a tear slip from his eyes.

"Please" I choked out desperately.

"Not this time, honey" he breathed out. His head started to slump to the side. "Make sure Becker looks after you and please don't shut the team out"

"No, you're not dying. I won't let you" I cried out as I tightened my grip on his hand.

"You are definitely my daughter" he said smiling though the tears falling down his face. "You're everything I ever wanted you to be, I'm so proud of you". He then pulled a set of keys from his pocket weakly and placed them in the palm of my hand. He wrapped my fingers over them and said

"That's just a little something I got to show just how proud I am"

"Daddy" I kissed the side of his head.

"Tell Claudia Brown..." he gasped in pain. "Never mind" I looked at him helplessly and then said

"I'll get you help. We'll get out of here together" Dad coughed and a little blood fell from his lips.

"You need to know, remember-" he started closing his eyes " I love you"

"I love you too, Daddy. Say hi to Stephen for me, Okay"

His smiled disappeared as he exhaled one last time. But my tears just kept on flowing, harder than before. My heart has broken all over again. I gripped into his shirt helplessly and closed my eyes. I shook my head and leant forward over my silent and still father. I looked down at the motionless body and realised that he had lied to me. He promised that he wouldn't leave me and that he'd help me, he left before he could make good on his promise.

I would never see him move again. I would never hear his comforting voice again. I would never see his sweet smile again. He was gone. My Dad was gone. I broke. I let out a very loud, strangled scream full of pain and my tears seemed to be never ending.

When I managed to compose my self enough I picked dad up bridal style with the artefact in his lap and carried him outside.

As I got to the front door I heard Abby's voice

"Wait, there's someone coming out!". The smoke around me cleared and I saw the team. I stumbled slightly and I tired not to drop his body. I didn't look anyone but dads lifeless body. Nobody reacted at first to the sight.

I began struggling to keep a hold of dad in my current state. I fell to me knees, grazing then in the process. I placed my dad on the ground in front of me and everyone gawked in shock. The team snapped out of their trance and ran over, they gathered around us. I didn't focus on them just stared at Dad. Lester then shouted

"Get an ambulance!" Jen started to cry over Dad's body. Abby was leaning into Connor's arms and they were crying together.

I moved so I wasn't sat on my knees, instead I hugged them and brought them close to me as I muttered

"It's too late" Jen then said

"Can't be- Oh,God. There was something I was going to tell him"

I placed a hand on dad's cheek and said

"Daddy, please come back to me". Lester then said

"Get this man in an ambulance now!" Someone then ran off to dial 999. I held the artefact tightly in my shaky hands.

"Cole?" I looked up at the source of the voice and saw Becker as at my side and looked incredibly worried. A tear fell down his face as I stared up at him. I leant against his chest and he wrapped his arms around me holding me close and tight. Nobody said anything after that. I as hiding my face into Becker's chest and was gripping onto his shirt. He stroked my hair and whispered soothing words into my ear. It didn't help but at least I knew he was there.

Everybody stood in silence, crying. I was mourning Dad and the rest of them mourned their leader, and a good friend.

Nick Cutter, My Father, was a strong, Clever man and everyone felt his loss and everyone missed him. No one would ever forget him


	5. Chapter 5: G-Rex On A Runway

Jenny's P.O.V

We were let back into the ARC a couple of weeks after the incident and there was repair going on all over the place. Connor has been working non stop on the detector, the locking mechanism and trying to work out what that bloody artefact is. Abby has been trying to get him to take a break but he's really hurting, Cutter was like a dad to him. Sarah has been trying to do something with the now destroyed matrix but isn't progressing. The funeral was about a week ago and that was the last time any of us saw Cole. Becker's been trying to call her but it just goes straight to voicemail. We've all tried finding her, hell Connor even went round to the house but he said that it was completely empty, I've been round to her apartment and she wasn't there either. I think that we're all worried that she's packed up and left again, like she did before, but she wouldn't do that to Becker...would she?.

I'm currently leaning against one of the barrier looking out over the ops room and I decided to give Cole a call. Got my phone out and dialled, it rang three times before I heard nothing, no voicemail message, nothing. Just to be sure I check the call time and then realised that she answered the phone. I then said

"Cole, you there"

"Yeah"

"Where are you we've been looking for you"

"I've been staying with a friend"

"Why haven't you been answering our calls"

"I answered now, didn't I"

"You know what I mean"

"I needed some time"

"Are you coming back soon" she didn't say anything.

"Cole you still there"

"I'm still here. And I don't know if I'm going to come back yet"

"We need you to come back. Look I know that your hurting but you need to come back"

"I don't need to do anything, Jenifer!" The tone in her voice changed dramatically, it went from sad and calm to icy and full of anger.

"Okay, you don't need to but it would be good for the team to see you" I heard faint shouting in the back but couldn't work out what was said

"I've got to go"

"Okay but let Becker know that you're okay, he's worried, we all are"

"Goodbye Jen" the line then went dead. I then had feeling in the pit of my stomach that she just said goodbye as in she wasn't coming back.

I was snapped out of my thought when Lester came over and said

"You're in charge, at least until we find a more permanent replacement or until Cole returns"

"And what if she doesn't"

He didn't say anything else so I looked out over the ops room and said

"You're driving them to hard"

"Works the best thing for us. Oh and don't expect a pay rise, I could probably swing you a parking spot. Keep things calm and if you can manage it slightly dull" he began walking away but then he turned around and said

"And as for Cole, we'll just have to hope she comes back soon". I then went for a walk to check in Sarah only to find her in the matrix room working on the artifact.

"Any luck"

"It's too soon to say once it's clean we should have a better idea" I looked at the matrix and said

"Any chance of putting this back together"

"Wouldn't know where to start. Give me a few years and I might be able to work something out. Cutter kept a lot of things to him self"

"They both do"

"Have you heard from her at all"

"She picked up her phone earlier but she doesn't know if she's coming back" she looked at me and said

"Hey Jenny is you ever need anyone to talk to about anything..."

"There's nothing to say" I hen left and bumped into Becker in the hall, he had just got off the phone with someone. When he noticed me he simply said

"Thank you"

"Was that Cole"

"Yeah. She says that she's okay but"

"Rule one, Cutter's lie to protect people they care for from getting hurt"

"Exactly" the anomaly alarm then went off so we went to the main room.

As I walked up behind Connor I said

"Is this a test?"

"No this is genuine".

"Do we have a location"

"Uh huh. Getting co ordinates now. Okay" he stood up with a head held and they all looked at me. He handed me the detector and said

"Good to go" I hesitated to take it but when I did I said

"Okay let's go then" as we were walking out of the room Connor called me, I tuned around and he said gesturing to the locking device

"It's nearly ready"

"Next time lets move". We got into the cars and drove to the location, which was a office building of some sort.

We walked up to the building and when we were inside it seemed abandoned.

"HELLO?" My voice just echoed through the building. Connor then said

"It's deserted" as we walked on a bit Abby pointed at a door and said

"Could it be in there somewhere" Becker went to open it but the door wouldn't budge.

"There must be another way in" we walked only two steps away before the door opened. Becker spun around with his gun up but as I walked past him he out his hand up to stop me

"Wait Jenny". Being our protector he went in first. Someone then came around the corner and Becker lowered his gun and said

"Captain wilder?"

"Becker" I then said

"You two know each other"

"Sand hurst"

"Top of his class, One of my best cadets" Connor then said

"If you two are going to hug can you do it later because there's an anomaly in here somewhere"

"Move back into the foyer" a lot of soldiers then came and surrounded us.

"What going on here"

"Just move" we did do what we were told and slowly walked out into the foyer.

When we were there we were told to wait so I began pacing. After about ten minutes Connor tapped on my arm and pointed towards someone. I turned and a smartly dressed women came towards me and held out her hand whilst saying

"You must be Jenny Lewis, I'm Christine Johnson" she the looked around the team and said

"I'm surprised not to see Private Cutter with you"

"She's taking some time off to deal with a loss. How do you know Cole"

"Our paths crossed in Bolivia before the incident. We aren't exactly acquaintances because I had her arrested" Becker then got involved

"Why?"

"Her team of troublesome men got drunk one night and ended up fighting the wrong agents. Nicole got in the middle of the fight and ended up punching a ambassador" looks were exchanged between the ARC team as she said that. She then said

"She hasn't told you"

"No she hasn't"

"Well that's understandable. Bolivia is a tough subject for her being the only survivor out of 25 children, 5 team members and those pilots. Anyway down to business..."

Coles P.O.V. - that morning

I have been sleeping on Stacey's sofa since I lost dad because I'm not ready to be alone. I would have asked to stay with Becker but I don't want to risk losing him too. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him as well. But anyway I needed to get some fresh clothes from my flat so I went there when work had started. I was at my flat for about 20 minutes before there was a knock at the door. I hesitated before going to the door and looking through the peep hole to see who it was. I was extremely surprised by who it was. I opened the door and said

"Danny Quinn, what are you doing here"

"I noticed that you hadn't been going to the ARC for a while so came here to ask for some help"

"Have you been following me"

"I'm vigilant. But will you help me"

"With what"

"Some journalist has been following your team around and I'm worried that he's going to do something drastic"

"So why me"

"Because if he does and we run into the team they are less likely to block me out if you're there"

"Danny I've taken some time off to deal with a personal matter, I don't know if I'm ready to go back"

"Well if you help me you'll know if you're ready or not" I thought about what he was offering and after a few minutes I put my leather jacket on, picked up my bag and motorbike helmet and said

"Fine let's go" as we were walking down stairs he said

"That black R6 downstairs is yours"

"Yeah it was a present from someone"

As we both got on our bikes my phone began ringing. I then said

"I'll catch you up". He then went to the car park entrance and I answered my phone but didn't say anything to Jenny at first.

"Cole, you there"

"Yeah"

"Where are you we've been looking for you"

"I've been staying with a friend"

"Why haven't you been answering our calls"

"I answered now, didn't I"

"You know what I mean"

"I needed some time"

"Are you coming back soon" I didn't say anything.

"Cole you still there"

"I'm still here. And I don't know if I'm going to come back yet"

"We need you to come back. Look I know that your hurting but you need to come back"

"I don't need to do anything, Jenifer!" The tone in my voice changed dramatically, it went from sad and calm to icy and full of anger.

"Okay, you don't need to but it would be good for the team to see you" Danny then shouted for me telling me that we had to go, I then said

"I've got to go"

"Okay but let Becker know that you're okay, he's worried, we all are"

"Goodbye Jen". I then made a quick call to Becker.

"Hey"

"Hey, where have you been, I've been worried"

"I've been staying with Stacey. I'm just calling to let you know that I'm okay"

"Really you don't sound it"

"Jen just called and we had a disagreement, then she told me to call you"

"When am I next going to see you"

"I don't know" Danny then pressed his bike horn and I said

"Becker, I've got to go"

"Okay, just check in with me soon"

"Will do"

"Bye Cole"

"Bye". I hung up, put my helmet on and joined Danny to track down the journalist.

We found the journalist near the ARC waiting for something to happen. Whilst we were waiting my dads voice echoed in my head

"It's on you now. The teams yours"

I felt a tear rolling down my face but I was snapped out of my daze when the gate opened and a couple of ARC cars came out when they drove past the journalist followed with us at a safe distance behind. When the ARC car first came out I saw the Becker, he looked serious but I know him better inside he's worrying about me and is most likely stressed because of me. The team stopped outside of a office building and whilst the journalist went over to the corner Danny and I went around the back and found somewhere to stay out if sight. We watched as the team got out of the cars and went into the building. Whilst they were in there the journalist decided to break into Jenny's car by smashing the window in and grabbing a detector. He then went to his car and drove off before the team came out. Danny and I followed him back to his news building.

We were there for some time. Enough time to get a coffee and to talk about our past, I really got to know Danny whilst we waited for the journalist to come back out. When he did come out he had a women, a camera crew and what looked like security men with him. We started up our bikes and followed them to an air strip.

Jenny's P.O.V.

When we got back to the ARC we went up to James office to tell him about her

"She seemed to know all about us and the anomalies". He didn't make eye contact with me so,I said

"That's not news to you is it" he avoided my question and instead asked Connor

"Are you sure the detectors working"

"Yep we got the same reading from the hand held"

"But you can't be certain"

"No but if it was t an anomaly then what was it" I then practically shouted

"Did you know this place existed"

"No",

"Right, then we need to find out exactly what it is they're doing there"

"YES, THANK YOU STATEMENT OF THE BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS. right yep, leave it with me. Go on thank you". We then left his office and went back to work.

After about an hour the detector went off again so I went back into the ops room saying

"Is it the same place"

"No, no this is a new one"

"Okay, let's get going then"

"Uh-huh where's Abby"

"Um she said she had to meet someone"

"Who"

"I don't know jack somebody. Look we'll call her on the way" as I began walking away he said

"Jenny" I turned around as he continued

"Give me two minutes, two minutes and I can have this thing up and running, please" he was referring to the locking device. I know that means to him now so I said

"Two minutes", he got to work.

I came back two minutes later and he was just putting the last thing in a crate.

"Connor, how much longer"

"Seconds away, done. You can load it up"

"This is actual going to work"

"It'll work. I know this is going to work. I hope it's going to work",

"It's okay just asking. Becker, we'll see you there" Connor and I then left and drove to the location, which was an air strip. I stopped at the gate and said

"Where to now",

"Straight ahead about half a mile" so I proceeded onwards. Connor then said

"Did she say anything else"

"Who"

"Abby. About this jack guy and who he was exactly"

"No she didn't, I thought you were going to call her"

"I tried calling her but..." that reporter then ran out in front of my car and I hit him. We got out and I shouted

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT"

"You alright"

"Please you've got to come quickly"

"What is it"

"There's this thing. This big shining light. This creature came through"

"Stay there" we want round the back of the truck and got out the guns we needed. I spoke first

"How much tranquilizer do you think we'll need" Connor then asked the reporter

"how big was this thing exactly"

"Big" Connor turned back to me and said

"It's your call" . I picked up a black pouch and closed the back ready for the reporter to lead us to the anomaly.

We ran to a warehouse and on the way I swear I saw two people in biker gear but when I went to look again they were gone, so I dropped it and continued following the reporter.

"It's in there. Better hurry it's really frightening"

"I told you to stay away from this"

"I know, I wish I'd listened". Connor and I stood with our back against the wall. I got out a tranq dart and began loading the gun but my hands were trembling. Connor then said

"You okay?"I clicked the gun back and lifted it up.

"I'm fine" I reassured him. He then said

"I'll go first" I grabbed his arm and said

"No, me" Connor shook his head and said

"How about we both go together" I smiled and said

"On three"

"One...two...three!"

Connor swung the door open and we walked in slowly. However I couldn't hear any creature let alone a 'big' one. We walked forward one step at a time. Connor held his gun like me but was much steadier. The silence that filled me with dread was disturbed by a loud whistle. The two of us spun round to see the journalist in the doorway looking very smug. He let out an evil laugh before slamming the door shut, locking us inside.

"No! No, no no no!" Cried Connor as we ran to the door. Connor was throwing his wait against it but it would budge.

"Open the door!"

"Thanks for the scoop, Jenny!"

"Dammit". I hit the door before telling Connor to look around for a back door.

Coles P.O.V

We watched as Jenny and Connor were lead in a wild goose chase by the journalist. Danny went to intervene but I stopped him by putting my arm out. I wanted to see if they were stupid enough to listen to this guy. Jenny then looked towards us and I pushed Danny out of view. We went around the back of the building and saw the journalist running of yelling

"Thanks for the scoop Jenny". I shared a look with Danny and we began looking for something to open the door with. This is going to be a awkward reunion.

Jenny's P.O.V.

After ten minutes Connor came back saying

"Nope. No backdoor"

"I can't believe I let myself get taken in by that reptile of a journalist"

"He was pretty good though, As reptile journalist go"

"Cole wouldn't have fallen for it. She should be here, the one in charge. But she's God knows where, doing god knows what" he sighed and I got my phone out and called Becker.

"Becker, how far away are you"

"We're stuck in road works"

"We'll look I don't care how many barriers you go through I need you here faster than fast"

"We'll be there as soon as we can". I hung up the phone, turned around and said

"They're stuck in roadworks" I noticed that Connor had just stood up from the floor so I said

"What are you doing"

"Doors solid. There's no getting through that" I turned back around and went for another look around.

When I came back we heard screams and cries coming from one of the hangers. I picked up my gun and we both faced the door, ready for a creature. We then heard gun shots and more screaming. It then went quiet but only for a second because something hit the door making us jump back and immediately out our guns up. It happened a few more times before the door slowly swung open. However instead of a creature someone else came to the door.

"Danny Quinn?"

"We'll you don't want to do that. You need all the help you can get. That's why I brought my own back up" he stepped aside a we immediately lowered our guns at the sight of Cole

"Cole. What are you..."

"Can we do this later. There's a job to do". I sighed and followed Cole and Danny out of the warehouse.

Cole and I were up front and I said

"So when we ask you to come back you say no but when Danny asks it's a yes" she lowered her gun, turned to me and said

"He asked for help. You just gave me an order, so yeah I'm helping him and then I'm gone"

"Gone?" She didn't say anything, instead Connor said

"Can you two do this later". Danny then said

"It's over there"

"What are you doing here"

"Saving your bacon"

"How did you even know where we were" Cole then said

"We followed the journalist from the ARC. Did you know he broke into your car"

"Yeah I gathered that. Look thanks for your help, Danny, but just go now"

"No way it's just getting interesting"

"If you don't go now I'll have you arrested" Connor then said

"Guys as fun as this is we've got more pressing matters". Danny then said

"Just give me the g and I'll go in first" I spun around with my gun up and said

"Take one more step and I will shoot you"

"Alright, absolutely". We carried on towards the hanger.

When we got there we saw a turned over car and a massive anomaly. Connor then said

"Wow. That's huge" we then heard a whistle from behind us, I sighed and said

"You're not going are you".

"HELP US. YOU'VE GOT TO GET US OUT OF HERE" Cole, Danny and Connor ran over to the car to check on the people.

Coles P.O.V.

When those people yelled for help I don't know why but I felt like normal again. Danny tried to open the door but I was jammed so I said

"Connor go round the other side" Jenny stopped him by saying

"Oi, I give the orders around here"

"Since when"

"Since you abandoned us" I stood up in ring of her and said

"I didn't have to stay here, Jen. I could have left without saying a word but I didn't, I stayed in London. If you want me to go just say so, If not then shut up". The only thing she said was

"Connor go round the other side". Connor went round the other side and opened the door but couldn't really get them out so I went round to the front of the car and said

"Cover your eyes" they people in the car did what I said and I pulled the remaining window off. They shuffled towards me but I let Danny get them out. When they were out I checked them over and when I assured them that they were fine I stood leaning up against the car.

After a few minutes the rest of the field team arrived. Connor then came over and began talking to the journalists but I wasn't listening the only thing I was focusing on was Becker who had yet to notice I was here. He then looked up and straight at me. He came over just as Jenny said to him

"Watch me. Take them away, take their phones, not one word of this gets out" he whistled and one of his men then took them away. Connor then said

"Look we need to be fast. It'll be back it knows there's easy prey here" he went off and was placed by Danny saying

"Look here's what I think we..." Jenny cut him off

"There is no 'we'. This has got nothing to do with you, this is a secure zone and you don't have the authorization to even be here. Leave now!" Becker then said

"Do you want me to arrested him?" I looked up and said

"No!" Becker gave me a confused look and Jen just ignored me, instead she said

"Last chance". Danny turned around saying

"So, uh, where do you want all of his stuff". He went over to the truck and pulled out a chase as Jenny said

"Unbelievable". I went to help but Becker grabbed my arm. Jenny saw this as her cue to leave.

I looked up at home and said

"What?"

"What! Really, I don't see you in two weeks and when you do finally resurface your with that guy"

"He came to me for help, that's all"

"And why haven't you come to me"

"What do you mean"

"I've been thinking that you've gone back to fighting with that Oliver guy. I could have help,you get through this"

"You want to know why I haven't been around"

"Yes. That's what I've wanted to know for two weeks" I looked the other way as I felt my eyes begin to water. I then said

"To keep you safe. Lately it seems that everyone I care about or love dies because I couldn't stop it, I couldn't help them" he sighed and said

"The bullet was lodged in his spine, there was nothing you could have done"

"I could have done something. I could of got help. I could have been stronger" I felt a few tears fall down my face as I was speaking. He put his gun on top of the car and placed both hands either side of my face. He then said

"You are the strongest out of everyone in the ARC. You didn't get help because you knew there wasn't time, you wanted him to spend his last moments with you. It wasn't fault. Come here" he then pulled me into a hug. I missed this, I missed the way he hugged me and the way he made me feel so much better, I missed him.

When we pulled away I wiped my tears away, he picked up his gun and we rejoined everyone else. Connor was just finishing assembling the locking mechanism.

"Bare with me a sec" he was running around like a headless chicken so I said

"Connor, Breath" he took and deep breath and said

"We are ready. Okay, do this for me" he pressed the button but was taken back by a small explosion.

"CONNOR. I thought you said this was going to work"

"It does, it will"

"Well how long until we can try it again"

"A few seconds. I don't know" Danny then spoke

"I know it's just a little thing but did anyone think about closing the doors" Jenny then said

"Right that's it arrest him" just as Becker put a hand on Danny's shoulder there was a roar from the anomaly and then a huge dinosaur came out. I ducked down under its tail but before anyone could actually do something it was gone and out the doors, so was Danny.

Becker came running back into the room saying

"The biker he's gone"

"His names Danny Quinn. But I'm more concerned about a t-Rex running wild in on an airfield" I then said

"That wasn't a t-Rex" everyone looked at me as i continued

"Connor if I'm not mistaken that was a giganotosaurus, yeah"

"Yeah. A G-Rex if you like. That thing is bigger, faster, it's even more dangerous" Jenny then said

"Right. Get the locking mechanism working and seal that anomaly. Becker, Cole you're with me" they began getting in the truck but I ran past them and Jen said

"Where are you going"

"I've got my own ride". I ran out of the hanger and round the corner to my bike. I did up my jacket, put my helmet on and started my bike to chase after Becker and Jenny in the car.

We got onto the runway and sped past the G-Rex, being careful not to get eaten by it. I came to a screeching halt underneath the plane and they pulled up beside me. Jenny got out and shouted to the crew

"Get back. Get back inside the plane" Becker fired at the creature but it didn't do much. I turned around and saw another crew member and he was going to run so I said

"Stay under the plane". Becker then said

"I'll go check on the crew, I've got to get them down". I watched as he walked forward, firing at the creature. What I didn't realize was that Jenny had gotten back inside the car and he creature was now going after her. Becker and I both began shouting

"GET OUT OF THE CAR". I watched as the Dino hit the car, completely destroying it and then Jenny stumbling to her feet. I went over and helped her whilst saying

"Hey, sorry for yelling"

"We can talk later but right now we need a distraction"

"I might have one but you need to trust me" she looked at me and said

"I trust you Cole". I turned around and got back onto my bike. However Becker came back down and came straight over to me and said

"That's suicide. You go out there and it catches you or even nudges the bike you'll end up severely injured or worse"

"You got to trust me"

"I do but I don't want to loose you"

"And you won't. I'll be careful"

"Your version of carful is getting a broken bone or two. I don't want that to happen because I..." Abby's mini then came rushing past and Connor got out and into a luggage transporter and drove away. He had the same thought I did. He got the creatures attention and it followed. I got off my bike and joined the others.

Jenny spoke first

"Abby what's he doing"

"Creating a distraction" we watched as luggage containers were thrown off and Connor lost control a little each time. He was struggling to keep it steady. He slammed the breaks down and the creature stacked over it and fell to the floor hitting its head, hard. Connor then stumbled out if the cab and after taking a few steps fell to the floor. I immediately ran to get my bike but when I got to it I felt the ground beneath me rumble. I turned and saw the Giganotosaurus was standing uk and right over Connor. It opened its mouth and went to take a bite but s helicopter flew over drawing its attention away from Connor. The creature followed the helicopter and when I joined the others on my bike Jenny was trying to find out who it was.

"Identity yourself please...could you please identify yourself"

"Bare with me a sec. Little bit busy at the moment"

"Danny. Do you have any idea what it is you're doing up there"

"Look don't worry I'm and experienced pilot"

"How experienced"

"Uh 2 lessons but they went unbelievably well"

"Alright what's the plan"

"Well to be honest I'm pretty much making it up as I go along" Becker and Jen then got into Abby's mini and I sped off to check in Connor.

"Temple, you okay"

"Just hit my head, should be fine. Who's that" he pointed to the chopper

"It's Danny" the mini then pulled up beside us and Connor went to get in but Becker was in the front seat. Becker then said

"Just get in"

"What?" Becker pulled Connor onto his lap and I tried to hold back a smile. After a minute Connor shouted to me

"Get back to the hanger and get the anomaly unlocked"

"I don't know how"

"Damn okay, Abby cut over right here" they went onto the grass the same way we did before. I then heard Becker say

"Oh Connor that my..." he stopped himself but I guess it was somewhere sensitive because I could see guilt cover Connors face.

When we got back to the hanger the two journalists were there holding up a camera. I got off my bike and said

"What on earth do you think you're doing"

"Ever heard of freedom of the press" Danny then came flying into the hanger and Jenny told Connor to open the anomaly. He did just in the knick of time because the Dino wasn't far behind. When that came into the hanger the two journalists didn't move so they got stepped on and killed, the Dino then went through. We got up and stood in front of the anomaly and I was muttering to myself

"Come on Danny" over and over again. Becker then said

"We need to lock it again" Jenny answered him

"he might be alive"

"We can't take that risk"

"He's got a minute"

"But Jenny..." I interrupted him

"No, we've lost to many people because of these things. Give him a chance"

"I thought you would be the last person to keep this unlocked"

"Trust me I'm going against all my instincts but if it wasn't for Danny I wouldn't be here. He's got one minute"

"Well I think you're making a big mistake" so we waited but nothing happened. Jenny then said

"Okay do it" Connor went to the mechanism but I said

"Jen he could be alive. Please don't do this"

"Sorry Cole but it's my call. Connor lock it" I took a deep breath and said

"What if it was Stephen in Danny's shoes, or my dad would you lock it on them" Jenny gave me a sad look but Abby said

"There's something coming through" Becker snapped his gun up and shouted

"LOCK IT" just as Connor was about to hit the button Jenny said

"Wait" Danny then came stumbling through. He fell to the floor breathlessly and said facing the anomaly.

"There's a heard of them and their coming"

"Connor"

"I can't lock it with him in the way". We ran to Danny and pulled him back, we fell to the ground in the process. Connor then locked the anomaly just in time. Jenny then said to Danny

"So what did you do with the helicopter"

"I'll just nip back and get it shall I". We all smiled and some of us even laughed. That was the first time I had laughed in two weeks.

Whilst Connor and Abby were packing away the locking mechanism I was outside leaning up against the wall getting some air. After a few minutes Becker came to check up on me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry about getting at you before"

"Don't be. You just didn't want to loose anyone else" he walked closer and said

"So does this mean that you're coming back" I thought about it and said

"I'm coming back" he then hugged me and spun me around a couple of times causing me to giggle. When he put me down he kissed me and when he pulled away he placed his forehead against mine and I said

"Can I stay with you tonight. Things are getting crowded at Stacey's"

"You really have to ask". I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. He then said

"Back in the run way when you were going to go distract the creature I was going to tell you something but I was interrupted"

"There's no one here to interrupt you now"

"I know. I was going to tell you that I ..." low and behold he was interrupted by Jenny coming out saying

"Cole, Lester want to talk to you" we pulled away from each other and she said

"Oops was I interrupting something" I walked over to her and snatched the phone away. Her and Becker went back inside whilst I spoke to Lester.

"Hey boss"

"Hey Nicole"

"Oh god you called me Nicole p, what have I done"

"Apart from going free lance for two weeks"

"Right, sorry"

"What do you know about Christine Johnson"

"She's a meaner female version of you, a two faced bitch who has multiple agendas all of which only effect her well being, why?"

"It's nothing, I'm just curious about her involvement with anomalies. Should I be seeing you back at work tomorrow"

"Bright and early, sir"

"Good to hear". I hung up the phone and saw Danny heading for his bike. I waved at him but didn't do much else.

My life is finally going to get back to normality, well normal for me anyway.

Later that day I had picked my stuff up from Stacey's and had basically moved into to Becker's place. That night We were watching a film and I ended up falling asleep on the couch.


	6. Chapter 6: Future Fungus

Coles P.O.V.

I've been back at the ARC for a week and I'm still staying at Becker's. He still hasn't told me what he was going to say at the airport but its up to him to decide when to tell me. Sarah has told me that she's currently cleaning the Artifact and when it's done we should be able to find somethings, hopeful.

Wednesday 17th October 2017

I was woken up that morning by my phone loudly. I went to go answer it but I was held in place by strong arms. A ruff, sleepy voice then said

"Ignore it"

"It could be important"

"Then they can leave a message". I put my head back on the pillow and after a few minutes it stopped ringing. We thought that, that would be the end of it but then it started beeping, my alarm was going off. Becker groaned and said

"You've got to be kidding me" I laughed and said

"Come on, get up". He took his arms from around me and just rolled over and went back to sleep. I sat up, tied my hair up and said

"For a solider you're are terrible when I comes to getting up early"

"I've been out of the army for over a year, you've been out for a few months. You're still used to it". I then got out of bed and pulled the covers off him. He groaned again, sat up and said

"Seriously, Cole"

"Seriously, Becker. Now get up". I then went to the bathroom and he just lied back down in the bed sighing. I got showered and ready for work. Today I was wearing a pair of black jeans, a purple tee shirt, some thick soled boots, a black belt, leather vest and I tied my hair up in a ponytail. I came out and saw that Becker was actually out of bed and doing press ups like he does every morning.

I walked past him and went to my side of the bed, I picked up my pocket knife and put it in my boot. I then picked up one of my earrings and that's when Becker stopped, that's when I said

"Don't stop on my account" he sat up against the end of the bed and looked worried about something. I looked at him and then sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Your phone went off again. I didn't answer it but..."

"Who rang me?"

"Christine Johnson"

"How the hell did she get my number"

"I don't know but Lester left you a voice mail"

"Okay, I'm sure it's nothing. Just get ready" I kissed his cheek and then got up to finish getting ready. I picked up another earring and saw in the corner of my eye that Becker was going into the bathroom. When he was in the bathroom I had put all 8 earrings in and was now about to listen to the voice mail left by James.

"You have one new message. Message received today at 7:55 am. 'Nicole, I need to talk to you it's important and related to Christine, you can either call me back or if you'd prefer you can talk to me at work. But I need to talk to you today, ASAP' to play the message aga..."

I ended the call before it could finish reading out the rest of the pre-programmed stuff. I looked down at my wondering and worrying about what Lester wants to talk to me about, but can it be good even if it is involving Christine. Whilst I was thinking I heard Becker's voice

"So what was the message from Lester about?" I looked up and saw him coming out of the bathroom, His hair was wet and sticking to his face, his torso was slightly wet, and he was just in a pair of jeans. I didn't realize that I was just starring at him until he snapped me out if it

"Cole?" I blinked and said

"What?" He sniggered and said

"What did Lester want?"

"Oh, he just wants to talk to me about something when I get to work. He wasn't very specific". I picked up my dog tags and phone, i put my dog tags on and put my phone in my pocket as I began walking out of the room. I pasted Becker but as I was about to open the door he grabbed my arm and spun me around. Before I could ask him what he was doing he crashed his lips down on mine. I was shock by this action but I kissed back immediately and with equal passion and speed. Instinctively my hands went into his hair and gripped onto it, tugging at it slightly. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

He pulled away after about 7 minutes but stayed really close to me, so close that are lips were brushing past each other. I then said breathlessly

"What was that for?"

"Can I not kiss my girlfriend"

"You can but a kiss like that must have been for something"

"I guess now a good time to say it"

"Say what?"

"I was going to tell you at the airport" I pulled back a little and said.

"Tell me what?"

"I know that we've only been together for a few months but when you know you know"

"Know what?"

"Cole, I Love you"

—2 hours later—

I didn't say it back. Why the hell didn't I say it back. I love him... don't I. Uh I don't know. After he told me that he loved me I told him that I had to go to the ARC to find out what Lester wanted well that was two hours ago. Whilst I was waiting for Lester to arrive I had put my gun holster on and was now just sitting in Dads old office drawing in my notepad. I hadn't even realized that Sarah had come into the room until she said from behind me

"That's brilliant, Cole. I didn't realize that you could draw" I jumped slightly and then looked at the heart I was drawing and said

"I didn't know either. It just comes naturally to me. Thinking of getting it tattooed on my shoulder in memory of the people that died in Bolivia. And maybe another one on my wrist for Dad"

"I think that, that would be amazing" just as she said that one of the soldiers came into the room and said to me

"Ma'am the boss just arrived"

"Thank you" I closed my notepad and placed it in the desk, I then got up and went looking for Lester.

I eventually found him walking down the main corridor.

"Lester" he turned and said

"Ah I'm glad you found me. Let's talk in my office". We continued to walk down the main corridor but as we passed the kitchen we both stopped and looked back in there only to see Connor asleep on a camping bed. I leant up against the door frame as Lester coughed obnoxiously loud causing Connor to fall off the bed. Connor scrambled to his feet and Lester then said

"Do you always bring this much stuff to work?" I looked around a saw Connors clothes scattered all over the place.

"Uh yes. I like to be prepared"

"I know some of the creatures can be frightening, but surely this many pairs of underpants if overdoing it". Connor smiled innocently as Lester and I left the room only to be stopped by the intruder alarm going off. I looked at James and he simply said

"Go. We'll talk later". So i ran off catching up with Connor.

When we saw the security team I got out my gun and stood beside Jenny. I then said

"What've we got" Becker answered me

"We have an intruder in sector 7. No identification as yet". Connor then said

"Is it small and ugly, in a kind of cute way?" We all gave him a weird look but proceeded to the door. When we came to a fault Jenny turned to me and said

"Helen?" My skin then went cold just thinking about my deranged mother. I held my gun up as Jenny said it Becker

"Prepare to shoot on sight". Becker kicked the door open reveling Danny just getting off the ladder.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Was Danny's reaction when he saw the guns. I put mine away straight away as Jenny said

"I don't believe"

"You've really got to do something about your security". I smiled and saw that Becker had an eyebrow raised. I turned around and began walking away with the others, including Danny and minus Connor following. We went up to Lester's office.

Danny was sat in a chair opposite Lester, Becker was standing next to him, Jenny was standing the other side and I was leaning against the window. Lester spoke first

"How did you get in?"

"Jump the perimeter fence and kicked in the fire door. It was easy"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's my life ambition to fight dinosaurs, sad the world". I saw Becker shack is head slightly and then Lester look at me and I just shrugged. I like Danny, there's something about him that reminds me of Stephen, my dad and my army team. Danny then said

"Look, I just want to help, that's all. I helped blondey over there get back to work didn't I?" I then said

"Thanks for that by the way" Jenny then said

"I warned you to stay away from this, Danny"

"See I thought you were flirting. It's so hard to read women these days" I then heard Becker mutter

"Tell me about it" I then said

"You want to bring that up now" he turned to me but before he could say anything Lester said to Becker

"Can you pistol whip him?"

"Sir?"

"Just a thought. But whatever is going on between you two sort it out in your own time. Mr Quinn..."

"It's Danny"

"Mr Quinn. That fate of the nation, possibly the world, hangs on what we do here. It's not a place for chancers and wide boys"

"My brother was killed by a creature. Don't ask me to pretend it didn't happen. You've seen what I can't do and I want in"

"Mr Quinn, we are grateful for your help and for getting Nicole to come back but there are no open positions in the team" I then said

"Actually James, there is one" Jenny and Becker then said at the same time

"No way. That job is yours" before I could say anything Lester said

"Captain would you take mr Quinn somewhere until we can work out what to do with him. Jenny you're dismissed as well. Cole you stay". Becker and Jen then left and James pulled out a file and placed it on the desk. I picked it up and said

"What's this"

"Christine's proposals for your fathers replacement. One thing in common, military uniforms" I read through the CV sighing and Lester said

"Cole you are a natural born leader, you dad left the team to you"

"I can't do it on my own, I need someone like my dad or Stephen with me sharing the responsibilities"

"Someone like Danny you mean"

"He's got background in law enforcement and he has the right attitude I think he'll fit in perfectly"

As we were talking his assistant came in and told us that Connor had been keeping the two stranded Diictodons in the ARC. I sighed and we went down to the ops room, I still had the file on my dads replacements in my hand.

When Connor saw us coming he said

"Lester, before you shout at me, I'm really sorry. I'll get the hard drive memory back up and running in seconds" I went to lean against a work station as Lester yelled

"At the risk of sounding like someone from the Old Testament, is there any sane reason why you're keeping animals in the ARC?" Before Connor could say anything the alarms went off. Connor turned back to the detector saying

"We must have missed an anomaly when it was offline. Closed an hour ago. I'll get the location"

"Yes, would you do that please? Because that would be extremely helpful" as he finished saying that someone came in saying

"Sir, Christine Johnson is here to see you" my head snapped up as Lester said

"Here?" She then casually walked over and spoke

"James, this isn't a bad time I hope?"

"Christine, what an unexpected pleasure" he then said to Becker

"Do we know where Jenny is?"

"No sir"

"Could you find her for me, please?"

"Yes sir...Now?"

"Now" I went to go as well as Christine said

"Nothing wrong I hope, James."

"Not at all. Connor don't you have something to be getting on with".

"Are you going to give me a tour or do I have to ask"

"Certainly. Nicole keep me informed"

"Actually James, I'd like it if Private cutter stayed" I stopped in my tracks, turned to James but he didn't say anything. I tapped Connor on the shoulder and said

"I'll catch you up later" he carried on leaving me with the Devils wife herself.

So we have Christine and her security team a tour of the ARC.

"Armory to your left, gym to your right, research labs there. And the operations area you already know. Anything else?"

"Yes, there is just one more thing James. In private. Nicole this concerns you as well" I then said

"Tell the chuckle brothers not to touch anything"

"I don't think you've met my colleague, Mark Baker. And this is Captain Wilder"

"Delighted. Shall we?" The three of us then went up to Lester's office. I once again was leaning up against the wall whilst Christine was sat in the chair that Danny was sat in.

"We have good reason to believe that Helen cutter had this object with her." She placed a photo of the artifact onto the desk Desk and I said

"Sorry what's this got to do with me?"

"She was your mother and we know that you ran off with her once so I was wondering if she told you about this object. We'd very much like to find out what it is"

"My mother died when I was Nine, I have no idea who Helen cutter is anymore. And I've never seen that object in my life, can I go now, I've got a job to do?"

"No" she pulled out some papers from her blazer and handed them to me.

"What are these?"

"These are transfer papers. Starting next week you will no longer work for the ARC instead you will be my 3rd in command, after captain wilder" I opened up the papers and read through them. Once I knew that they were authentic I said

"Why the hell do you want me on your side. You hate me"

"You are a valuable asset that would work well with my security team" I handed the papers to Lester and he sat there reading them whilst I glared at Christine. I just got back and now because of her I have no choice but to leave the ARC. Lester then said

"They are genuine, they've been signed by the minister. I'm sorry Cole"

"Fantastic" you could hear that my voice was full of sarcasm. I then got a text. I got my phone out and the text from Jenny said

"Need Help. Get to St Pancras ASPA". I showed Lester the text and he said

"Right go on" as I was leaving the office I heard Johnson say

"See you next week. Private Cutter". I ran out of the ARC, got on my bike and went to the train station. I got there the same time as the others pulled up. I took my helmet off and said

"Jen, fill me in"

"We need to find Sir Richard Bentley. We think he's been infected by something that came through the anomaly" she handed me a picture of Sir Richard.

"Let's go then" we ran into the station and began looking for him. But my mind was only on one thing, how I was going to tell the team I was leaving and how would Becker react.

We asked loads of people if they had seen him but no one had. Jen then shouted

"The train is departing from the platform at the far end". So we ran to the platform as quickly as we could. Abby and Becker looked through the windows whisky Jen and I searched the crowd. With no luck again we got back together and I said

"This isn't working, we need to rethink this. Becker, check inside the train"

"Right" Jen then said

"Better start making plans to evacuate" Abby then said

"We could be lucky, you know. Maybe he hasn't been contaminated"

"We can't risk it, Abs we need to find him" we looked over the crowd again until Abby said

"Sir Richard?" I spun around and followed Abby to where she thinks she saw him. Becker then came back and said

"He's not in the train" Abby then said

"I don't get it I saw him here a minute ago" I then looked and saw someone in a grey suit, struggling to walk. I then said

"Over there". And we ran again. We followed him outside and down into an old sewer access point. The four of us walked into the access point just as more security joined us. That's when we heard roaring, we all shared a look of concern and then I shouted

"Sir Richard?" The response was just a growl. Becker was handed a gun and i got mine out, we then walked into the tunnels.

After about 5 minutes in the tunnels Jenny said

"These tunnels must go in for miles. We're going to need some light". Becker was then sent back up to get some torches, leaving me, Jen and Abby in the tunnels. Jen then asked me quietly

"What did Christine want. Connor said she wanted you to stay behind" I sighed and pulled the papers out of my jacket inside pocket and handed them to her. She read them and then looked up and me sadly. I then said

"Don't tell them yet, I want to do it" Becker then came back down and Jenny handed me the papers back. He gave the girl a torch each and I was given a torch attachment for my gun. We then heard growling and movement from my right, which made all guns point in that direction. We then went walking through the tunnels looking for the creature.

Becker wouldn't leave my side the whole time that we were down there. Jenny stopped and said

"Abby! Cole!" We followed her gaze up to the corner of the wall where she shinning her torch. In the corner was the creature and it looked like a mushroom. Becker then yelled

"Take it out now!" Everyone began shooting it but when it jumped off the wall Becker grabbed me and pulled me out if the way. Instead of me getting touched by it one of his men did instead. Jenny then said into her earpiece

"We need a containment unit down here straight away"

I was stood up against the wall, Becker was stood to my left and had his hand above my head and was looking down at me, Abby was stood to my right saying

"Basically, it's a fungus. And it likes damp and dark places. Chances are it's still here somewhere " Jenny then came over and said

"Look, don't let any of your men get near it. I can't risk anyone else being infected" Becker then said

"How are we supposed to contain this thing. When are gunfire's completely ineffective?"

"Well, Danny's on his way down with the flamethrowers" I then said

"Danny?"

"He volunteered"

"He's keen"

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it". Her and Abby then went to go wait for Danny. As I went to follow Becker stood in front of me and said

"You've been avoiding me"

"No I haven't"

"Cole, what's wrong, is it what happened this morning"

"No it's not that"

"Then what's wrong?"

"I... it's nothing that you need to know about right this second". Jenny then yelled

"Oi, you two. Danny's here". We then walked upstairs and I felt like crying. I hate lying to him but he needs to be focused on this right now.

Danny, Becker, Abby and a couple other men were given the flamethrowers. Whilst Danny was talking I was looking into the tunnels and only heard him say this

"Look if I'm going to go in first then I'm going to call the shots alright. Plus the only one that can give me an order is Nike over there" my heart just stopped, did he just call me Nick. I spun around and said

"What did you just call me?"

"Nick" I then caught the look on the others faces and I said

"Danny, if you ever call me Nick again, then I'll put a tranq in your arse. Let's get this over with I want to go home". I turned back around and began walking back into the tunnels with nothing but a torch ignoring what Danny was saying.

The team did catch up with me and we ended up splitting into two teams. Becker went with some of his men whilst me, Jen and Abby stayed with Danny. We looked for about 10 minutes until we came to a really dark out cove making Abby say

"Damp and dark just like I said" Danny then said

"Yeah Bingo". I then got a call from sarah

"Sarah?"

"Cole. Don't use the..."

"I can't hear you...what. You're breaking up I can't hear what you're saying. Are you saying to go ahead?"

"No, no..."

"Cut off" Danny then lifted his flamethrower and the creature came out form the cove, we all jumped back and Danny said into his coms

"Becker, get down here. We've got him cornered. He's got nowhere to go". Within seconds Becker and the rest of the men arrived and they went into where the creature was. Danny then said

"Looks like someone's sneezed". My phone then went off again.

"Sarah?"

"Do not use the flamethrowers!" I took the phone ways from my ear and shouted

"STOP!"

"What?"

"Fire doesn't work! Stay away from it!". The creature then made a run for it, I'm Becker's direction

"Becker, move" he got out of the way just in time and after sending me a glance telling me that he was okay, he went after it. Danny then said

"We've got to climb it upstairs. Contain it" he then got his phone out and said

"David lodge?you still got that truck?" We then ran after it too.

After a minute Becker's voice came over the earpieces

"Danny, it's gone up the stairs" we then joined him and i asked

"Has the truck arrived?"

"Seconds away" Abby then said

"Then what?"

"I'll get back to you"

"For a minute, I thought he knew what he was doing" I then said

"He kind of reminds me of Stephen" Abby and Jenny gave me a weird look but then considered it, they shrugged and we carried on up the stairs.

We managed to corner it again and Jenny was on the phone to Lester

"James? Okay, we've got to cool it. But there's no chance of holding it here. It's too dangerous" Danny then snatched the phone from her and said

"Listen, the longer we wait the more people get infected... what do you suggest we do? Give it the financial times to read while we're waiting? Look, we're bringing it to the ARC. Just get everything ready, all right?" Danny hung up the phone and whistled to get the creatures attention. It jumped off the wall and ran in the direction we wanted it to, it was running towards the truck. We got up top and Danny ran straight for the truck. He got in and said

"I'll see you there" Jenny's response was

"Oh, okay" he drove off and Jen said

"He's really overdoing the alpha male bit, isn't he?" We then saw the truck reversing

"Somethings wrong" Danny pulled up and aid innocently

"No sat-nav, show us the way to the ARC" . Jenny smiled and got in the other side. The rest of us then packed up and followed shortly after them.

—

When we got to the ARC it turned out that the creature had gotten loose and it was now somewhere in the ARC. We met back up with Jen, Danny, Connor and Sarah in the main corridor and Connor told us the plan.

"Guys listen up. The creature's going to be hiding somewhere dark. We need to find it, force it down the corridor, through those doors" Abby then asked

"How do we do that?"

"Freezing carbon dioxide" Connor looks down and the two fire extinguisher next to him. Danny picked one up and Connor said

"What ever you do, don't let it touch ya"

"I wasn't thinking of shaking hands with it" we then split up. Connor and Jen went with Becker, Sarah went with Danny, Abby and I went to get two more extinguishers from the ops room.

As we went through the double doors we were hit by freezing temperatures. I pulled my vest shut and said

"I really regret wearing a vest now" Abby then said

"Temperatures dropping, fast. All right lets find these fire extinguishers and get out of here"

"You don't have to tell me twice". We looked around and did eventually find them. As we were leaving the ops room I got a call so I stopped and said to Abby.

"Go ahead" she carried on and I answered my phone

"Danny, hi"

"Nick, good news. It's heading directly back to the operations room" I wasn't even bothered at the fact he just called me Nick because my heart stopped yet again as I said

"But I'm still in here"

"Nick, get out of there. Get out of there NOW!" I hung up the phone and heard familiar growling coming from behind me. I slowly turned around and saw the creature standing not that far from me. I slowly picked up the fire extinguisher and went to make a run for it as Abby called

"COLE!" The creature jumped in front of me blocking me only exit. Abby then went to come in but I said

"Abby, stay there! It's too dangerous!" She stopped and I fired the extinguisher at the creature. I was trying to keep it away but I kept creeping closer to me. I then saw everyone one else join Abby, I then heard Connor say

"The creature is searching for heat"

"But it's freezing in there"

"It's nicks body heat. It's drawing it towards her"

I then said

"I can still hear you" I kept firing the extinguisher at it but then it decided to run out. I then muttered

"Shit". The cold then really hit me and my breathing became faster,

"Cole, come on" my legs went from underneath me and I heard Becker say

"No, no. Stay on your feet Cole"

"Cole!". I began to panic now. I pulled the empty fire extinguisher closure to me as a way to defend myself but I was getting weaker by the second and the creature kept getting closer. I then said, in fear of never being able to say it

"Becker, I...I love you"

Becker's P.O.V.

All any of us could do was watch the women I love attempt to stay awake. Connor then said

"It's going to kill her"

"Turn off the cold air" Sarah's reply to that was

"The creatures not dead yet" Abby then said

"Coles going to die if we don't". The creature got closer and was reaching out to touch her. Danny then said

"Give me a minute"

"What?" Danny ran through the doors and I followed.

"Hey!" Danny whilst end really loudly and said

"Over here!". The creature left Cole alone and focused on us. We dodge under it's swing and I said

"Come and pick on on someone your own size" Danny then smashed the fire extinguisher into it. But when he went of fire it it had ran out. He chucked it aside and we backed away as it came forward. But with every step it took it was getting slower and more stiff, it was freezing. It then fell apart into millions of pieces and without hesitation a ran to Cole. Her eyes were now shut and her head was drooping to the side. Danny the shouted

"Let's get her out of here" Connor the. Came in the room shouting as I was about to pick her up

"No"

"What?"

"The only chance she's got is if the cold kills the fungus. We wait, okay?" I sighed and watched as the fungus crawled up the side of her face. I then muttered

"Come on Cole. Don't leave me yet". Danny heard me and went to pick her up but Connor shoved him back

"No! Danny listen to me!"

"It's killing her!"

"I know it is! But if we take her out now, she's going to end up like that thing over there. Trust me, please". We all sat in silence and then Jenny said

"She's survived worse than this...right?" Abby then said

"Well this is the second time she's been frozen so yeah, I guess".

"When was the first"

"A long time ago and a story for another day. Look?" Abby pointed at the fungus and it was turning black. It then began crumbling and falling from her face. Connor then said

"Okay! Okay, she's clear" I then scooped her up and took her into the room that we were previously in. Lester had pushed everything off the table so we could lay Cole on it. Danny then said

"I've got her head". Sarah then said

"As long as she's been frozen quickly, there still a chance we can bring her back. Keep warming her" more and more blankets were placed and her. Abby standing by her head pumping air into her lungs and checking her pulse. Sarah had attached an IV to her and I was just standing next to her prays that she'd open up those beautiful eyes.

"Come on Cole" Connor then said

"Anything" Abby looked up in horror as she said

"No pulse. Come on, Cole. Come on!" Connor took a step back and said

"Not again" Abby then said

"Is she stays like this for another few minutes, we've lost her" I then said

"No, we keep trying. We have to bring her back"

"Becker the only person who would know what to do currently has no pulse. I'm sorry but if her heart doesn't start beating again then she's gone"

"Not again. Please not again, we can't lose them both". He was holding back the tears. Danny then said

"Come on, don't bail on us now". A few more seconds went by for anyone to say anything and it was Abby who said

"I've got a pulse" I let out a sigh of relief and took a slight step back. Danny then said

"Here she comes. Hey" he grabbed her hand and her reaction was

"Dad?" I put a hand in her hair and said

"He's gone. Remember?" She nodded and said quietly

"You can let go of my hand now, Danny?" He let go straight away and she then kicked him and said

"That's for calling me Nick again, twice"

"Sorry. Hey welcome back"

"You scared us"

"I do a lot don't I". She then looked at me and said tiredly

"Hey"

"Hey"

Coles P.O.V.

It was about an hour until my body temperature was close to normality. I had stopped shaking anyway. Becker had given me his hoodie and ARC jacket to wear whilst I was still getting warm. When I could walk around normally I went and sat in the matrix room. I was in there for about 20 minutes looking at my transfer papers until Lester came in and asked

"You alright?"

"I'm fine"

"You know. I'll never look at athletes foot the same way again... I'll try everything I can for you but for now at least you have to go work for Christine. Have you told anyone else?"

"Only Jenny"

"You need to tell the others"

"I know"

-20 minutes later-

I had moved to the ops room and was sat on a work top talking to Becker. When all of a sudden James and Christine came into the room.

"Glad you could drop by on such short notice. Now, Christine, I wanted you to be the first to know, you're right. I am going to need a man just like Captain Wilder to replace cutter"

"I'm glad you've come round to my way of thinking"

"Oh, not Wilder himself, of course. No, he's playing much too vital a role on your own staff. But Danny Quinn here is just like him" I smirked at the look and Christine's face, it was priceless. Lester then continued

"Background in the police, firearms training, management skills. The perfect choice. I've already cleared it with the minister" She put a fake smile on and went over to Danny.

"Congratulations. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other" she turned to walk away but gave me a menacing smile, she was going to do something. Lester then said

"I trust that's all right with you?" Danny then said

"Well, if it's alright with these guys, then it's all right with me"

"Their idea. Cole and Jenny most of all" lester then went to walk away but not before Christine said

"Right then, I'll see you at 9 o'clock sharp, Monday morning, Private Cutter" well, shit. That's one way to tell everyone that I have to leave. I stopped twiddling my thumbs and felt Becker's hand on my knee tense up. I heard Christine walk away and Becker then said

"Cole, what's she on about" I jumped off the counter, grabbed his hand and said

"Come here" I lead him back to my office. I closed the door behind us and pulled out my transfer papers. I then sheepishly handed them to him preparing for him to completely flip out.

I leant up against my desk and a minute later he said

"They can't do this",

"They can. And they have" he moved to the door and said

"No, Lester has to do something, we have to make him do something" he went to open it but I moved and stopped him. I looked him in the eyes and saw them glossing over. I then put a hand on his cheek and said

"Lester is trying to do something for me but until then I have to go" he let a single tear fall as he said quietly

"They can't just take you away"


	7. Chapter 7: Exit Interview (Extra Chapter

Coles P.O.V.

the week was drawing to a close and at this point Jenny had left and everyone knew that today was my last day. After an eventful day with an exciting anomaly, the only people left in the arc were the field team and Lester. I was sat in the ops room finishing up some paper work when Lester walked past me and said

"I need to speak to you". I got up and went up to his office. Once there he sat at his desk and I took my usual spot by the window.

"I'm sorry. I tired but the minister is set on you leaving the ARC"

"When do I officially leave"

"Today"

"What?"

"They wanted it to be the day after you were given the papers"

"I can't go yet, I've still got to help Danny"

"Danny will be fine",

"Really",

"Well, we'll figure it out. I'm hoping I can get you back" I sighed and shock my head. He then pulled out a file and said

"The minister wanted you to fill this out" I picked it up and said

"Exit interview. Are you kidding me"

"He's big on procedure. Just be honest. I was hoping I could do something about this and I'm sorry I couldn't"

"I know" I turned around and looked out over the ops room and my smiling friends. I then said

"How am I supposed to tell them that I'm leaving for good when I don't want to go"

"The government is really really good at taking power away, makes them fell like their in charge"

"That sounds like a profile"

"You're going to much better off than any of us now, huh"

"Don't say that. I'm going to be in the side that's got something planned for the ARC, I can feel it"

"Don't tell the others this but... I'll miss you" he then shook my hand and I left the room. Walking down that spiral felt horrible. When I got to the bottom I went straight to my office and filled out the exit interview.

When I finished I came back into the ops room with my bags packed. Abby saw me first and said

"No" Connor then said

"Wait a minute I thought Lester was supposed to do something"

"It's above his pay grade" Sarah then said

"They can't just take you away"Abby then said

"So, we do nothing"

"It's done" Danny then said

"It's cant be that simple"

"It is"

"What we do is hard enough what are they trying to do, Bury us" Abby then said

"You're too good, that's the problem " Becker then said

"It's true, you're a natural at what you do, you're on everybody's wish list, our lose is someone else's gain"

"It would be if that person wasn't Christine Johnson" Sarah then said again

"They can't just take you way". I pulled her into a hug and after a minute Connor said

"Don't they understand that we're a family. That's why this works so well is because we're a family. Do they even care"

"I don't know Con"

"I can't believe that your... okay, no, we're supposed to say that this is a good opportunity which I can be. I don't know the way this place works without you, you're like the glue around here, who's going to make us feel safe"

"Well action man can do a pretty good job"

"See that right there, total ignorance and how awesome you are is 1 of the 5000 things I love about you"

"I'm still going to be in the city. Okay"

"Sure, we'll make a plan, breakfast every Tuesday, and then life or this job gets in the way and what if we only see you on birthdays and holidays"

"Hey, I won't let that happen"

"Okay, you better not because we know where to find you. We should go get some food or something, all of us together"

"Um, there's just one more thing to do before I go"

"Okay then we'll meet you outside"

"Sounds good". I then turned around and went back up to Lester office. I watch sadly as the team left the ops room and I thought, this is probably the last time that I'll make this trip. Lester had his back to the door so I snuck in a placed the file on his desk and left again before he noticed.

What the exit interview said

'I'm thankful for my years spent with this family for everything we shared, every chance we had to grow. I'll take the best of them with me and lead by their example wherever I go.

A friend told me to be honest with you so here it goes. This isn't what I want, but I'll take the high road. Maybe it's because I look at everything as a lesson, or because o don't want to walk around angry, or maybe it's because I finally understand. There are things we don't want to happen but have to except, things we don't wanna know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go. Thank you for this opportunity, I will never forget it'


	8. Chapter 8: betrayal

Becker's P.O.V.

Cole has been gone for a month and I haven't seen her since she moved out of my flat a few days after leaving the ARC. She left me a note that basically said she had to focus on Christine and that I should keep my distance for now. The team haven't seen her or heard from her either and they're trying to act like they don't mind but they really do, especially Connor and Abby. They've worked with Cole since the start and see her as a little sister.

Currently I'm in Coles old office and its bare. There are two empty book shelves, the sofa, and a empty desk. I sat at the desk and slouched back in the chair. I looked towards the book shelf and smiled to my self thinking of the time I scared her just before going on our first date. The intruder alarm then went off. I got up from the desk and went to stand by the door, I then heard Danny running in this direction and when I saw him run past I came out and said

"BANG!" Danny came to a stop and I went up to him, looked at my watch and said

"24 seconds. Congratulations. That's 3 seconds longer than last time. How did you get in?"

"Car park. Ventilation system. I suggest you..."

"Check all Infrared systems are tamper-proof and secure all ventilation shafts"

"Exactly". Danny then went to get change and we would meet in Lester's office.

When Danny joined us I said

"I'm satisfied that there was no serious breach of security" and Lester's response to that was

"Excellent. A new definition of "serious". You let him abseil down the ventilation shaft"

"Yes, sir" Danny then said

"That surveillance camera is a waste of time, by the way" I turned and said

"What camera?"

"The one on the shaft covering the corridor"

"There's no camera there" Danny and I shared a look of concern before looking around. Lester then said my

"Am I missing something?". We didn't answer him instead we look at things on his desk. When we didn't find anything I said

"Vents" I went to one side of the room and Danny went to the other. He then asked

"Anything?"

"Clear. You?" He took a vent cover off and pulled out a camera, he then said

"Smile boys we're on tv". Danny then ran out of the office and yelled

"Connor"

"Yo!"

"They've seen it"

"Who's seen what"

"Johnson, she knows we've got the artifact we've got 5 minutes" I ran after Danny and shouted

"Security lockdown. Secure the main gates". Alarms then sounded but I was too late. I caught up with Danny and shouted

"Quinn, stop!" They all stopped and turned to face me

"She's already here. All the exits are covered". A mans voice then said

"Find me Quinn and the artifact". Before any soldiers could see us we went into a near by lab and shut the door. I pointed my gun at the door just in case. Danny then said

"I know one exit she won't have got covered" I nodded and then said

"Lester's looking for a safe house. Whatever you do don't break cover we'll find you when it's clear" Abby then said

"You're staying aren't you"

"Someone's got to give you time to get out"

"Becker, Cole will be there"

"I know. Now, go". They ran off and I ran into the ops room with my gun raised.

"Stop there. Drop your weapons" one of the shoulders the said

"No sir. You drop yours" after that I had multiple guns pointed at me.

"We really don't want to kill you, sir" Christine then made an appearance and said

"Put your weapon down, Becker, and surrender the artifact"

"With respect. I don't take orders from you" she held up a piece of paper and said

"You do now" I still didn't lower my weapon until a hand went at the end and pushed it down. I turned and saw Cole stands next to me, she looked different. She was wearing a military uniform similar to everyone else's and had a gun strapped to her thigh. Her hair was also different the underside was purple and her hair was lighter. She then said

"It's over, Becker". I lowered my gun and she took it away from me. I didn't take my eyes off her once, not even when I was put in handcuffs as a precaution. Christine then went up to Lester's office but as she past me and Cole she said

"You can have five minutes, alone" Coles response was

"Thank you ma'am" Cole then got the key for the cuffs and lead me to her old office.

Once inside and the door was shut I said

"What the hell, Cole?" I had my back to her so I couldn't see what she was doing. I then heard the cuffs being unlocked. When they were off I went to say something but she put a finger up telling me not to, she then tapped her ear telling me that someone could be listening. She then pointed to the vents and I went to check them whilst she checked the remaining stuff in her desk. After a minute she looked up and shook her head, I did the same thing, no one was listening. I then said

"What's going on"

"When I left I had a feeling that Christine had something planned for the ARC, and I was right. I called Lester a couple of weeks ago and told him to be ready. We've got a plan I just need you to trust me"

"I trust you"

"Good because I'm going to need your help"

"Okay, what do you need me to do"

"Christine rarely lets me leave her side, which is good for getting what we need but then I need you to send a copy to Lester"

"A copy of what"

"Christine has some strong anger towards the minister, so I need to record her saying something about him and the I'll give you the recorder. Becker she can't know that it was me that came up with this. No until Lester gets me transferred back"

"Okay, no problem. By the way, the hair looks good"

"Fancied a change"

"It suits you".

"Thanks". I walked forward so I was standing in front of her. She then put a hand in my hair and said

"I've missed you"

"You're the one that told me to keep my distance"

"To keep you as far away from Christine as possible"

"How'd that work out. We're both working for her now" she took her hand away and said

"God you're really pissed off with me aren't you"

"This is the first conversation we've had in 4 weeks, so yeah I'm a little pissed. But at the same time I really want to kiss you" a sly smile formed on her face as she said

"Go ahead, no ones stopping you" just as I was about to kiss her there was a knock at the door, she then said

"Apart from him...Come in". A solider then came in and said

"Ma'am miss Johnson would like to see you"

"Great" I could hear the sarcasm in her voice. We then began walking out of the room but I was stopped and the soldier just said

"Miss Johnson just wants to see Private Cutter, sir" I looked over at Cole and she just gave me a slight nod. I stayed were I was while she carried on walking.

Coles P.O.V.

After I left Becker I went straight up to Christine's new office.

"You wanted to see me, Ma'am"

"I wanted to know if you had any idea for where Mr Quinn may be hiding"

"Why would I know, I haven't been here to have any input for a month"

"Enough with the attitude, Private. I just asked a simple question"

"Sorry, Ma'am. But I have no clue where Danny or the team is hiding"

"Until we find them you are not to leave my side, am I understood, Private"

"May I ask why"

"Because you know, Quinn, you know how his mind works. If he decides to make a move against me I want you to stop him".

"I don't think I'll be able to do that Ma'am" she got up from her desk and stood in front of me and said

"You will do as you are told, solider. No matter the risk, no matter the consequences. Am I clear"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"Dismissed, Private. Just Stay nearby. clear"

"Yes ma'am" i saluted her before leaving the office. I walked back through the ARC but as i was i had picked up some paper work from one of the ARC employees to use to hide my phone. i then texted the one of the people i need to get this plan in motion.

"Everything is in place i just need you to get the minister on my side. you know what to do"

"on way to rendezvous, you owe us one cutter"

"add it to the ever growing list, Becca".

"we will cash in those favours one day Nicole". i put my phone in my pocket before going to find Becker.

5 hours later

Danny's P.O.V.

We walked out of the bunker after sending the birds back whilst I was saying

"I had no idea you cared so much Connor"

"What". We then heard guns around us being loaded and then Becker's voice

"You're all under arrest"

"oh you've got to be joking"

"My orders are to take you back to the ARC. I'm authorized to use deadly force if I have to" Connor then said

"You're Johnsons man now"

"I'm just following orders"

"Like a good little soldier boy"

"Where's the artifact". Connor told him and the next thing we knew we were at the ARC.

Christine was sat in Lester's chair and Cole was to the right of her. Becker handed her the artifact and she said

"Excellent job captain. I can tell that you're a man with great potential" I saw from the corner of my eye that Cole was rolling hers.

"Thank you ma'am" I then said

"I think I'm going to be sick"

"I'd have a little more respect if I were you Quinn. You're all looking at a very serious charge of stealing government property" as she said that James walked in saying

"Hello Christine"

"You're not authorized to be in this facility James"

"I think you're sitting in my chair"

"Captain will you escort this troublesome man from the building"

"I'm afraid I can't do that ma'am" after he said that another women about Coles age came in, Abby and Connor recognized her and looked at Cole. The women then said

"Hello Cole"

"Becca" Christine then said

"Sorry who are you"

"A friend. First things first. As of this exact moment Nicole Cutter has the right to work wherever she wants"

"No, the minister signed the paper" Becca pulled out some papers of her own and said

"Yes, and he just signed these ones"

"Why" Becker pulled out a recording device and pressed play

'The minister is an imbecile and can barely blow his own nose so you really think I'm going to let a white hall glove puppet with the IQ of a root vegetable tell me how to do my job'. The recording ended, we were trying to hold are laughter back and James said

"Becaa so Cole can come back"

"If she wants too yes". Cole then sighed out in relief

"Yes. Finally" James then said

"Oh that reminds me, Christmas the minister wants to see you, he didn't seem very happy". Cole then said

"Christine I did warn you"

"Yes you did. But this isn't over". I began whistling in the awkward situation as Christine left the building.

Coles P.O.V.

When Christine was gone we all started laughing. Sarah kissed Becker's cheek and said

"You are my hero" James then said

"And mine. But don't expect any kisses from me, I'll leave that to" he the pointed at me. I walked over to Becker and he put his arm around me. Lester sat at his desk and said

"Haven't you all got work to do" Danny then said to Becker

"Sorry mate, out of order"

"its fine just don't call me soldier boy again " I then sad

"Yeah I might start" before he could o anything Becca said

"Cole a word". I followed her out of the room and to my office.

I spoke first

"Thank you"

"My pleasure. But my boss, has made it clear that he will require your skill set in the distant future"

"Well tell, Mr London that I will be happy to comply as long as it's nothing illegal"

"I work for the government, Nikki. I'm not an assassin or criminal" I hugged her and said

"See you soon"

"See you around Nikki"


	9. Chapter 9

Becker's P.O.V.

Cole has been back at the ARC for a couple of weeks and we are rarely apart. We've also been alternating between who's apartment we'd be staying at. I love her and I never want to be without her. About a week ago my parents gave me a call and they reminded me about the weekly Sunday lunch and I have to go because I missed last weeks. Oh did I mention that my parents have a lot of money and when I say a lot I mean so much so that they are two of the richest people in the United Kingdom. When I moved out they gave me access to my trust fund so I have like £500,000 pounds sitting in my bank account, I don't really use it but seeing as today is Coles birthday I spent quite a bit on some presents for her.

So the morning of her birthday I got up a little earlier to make her some breakfast. I made her a traditional breakfast (bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs instead of fried, hash browns, French toast, beans, mushrooms and beans) I also put a glass of orange juice on a tray with a birthday card ready to take into Cole when all of a sudden I heard her voice

"Why are you up so early?" I turned around and saw her walking out if the bedroom rubbing one of her eyes. I sighed and said

"I got up to make you breakfast but you're up now so" I put the plate on the counter with the juice and card. She sat down and said

"Thank you" I went to sit next to her and as I passed her I kissed her cheek and said

"Happy Birthday" she noticeably tensed up and her face dropped. I then said

"What's up"

"It's my first birthday without my Dad"

"Oh my god I totally forgot"

"It's okay. Im not going to let it ruin today. I'll go to the grave later anyway".

"Do you want me to come with you"

"No, it's okay". She then took a bite from her food as I said

"You sure?" She just hummed telling me that she was sure.

After a couple of minutes I said

"So, every week my parents do a Sunday lunch and I have to go because I missed the last few, do you want to come"

"You want me to meet your parents?"

"Yeah and my sisters, I love you and want them to meet you"

"Are you sure"

"They'll love you. So is that a yes"

"Alright then, I'll come with you and meet you parents". I smiled and then pulled a box with a red bow on out under the table. I put it in front of her and she said

"What's this"

"One your many birthday presents"

"How many have you got me"

"You'll have to wait until after work. But this one you can open". She put her fork down and undid the bow. She then opened the box and pulled out a car key. She then said

"A key for a Audi R8?"

"A key to your new blue Audi R8"

"Are you serious"

"Yep"

"You brought me a car"

"I brought you a car" she jumped off her chair and into my arms. And kept saying over and over

"I love you"

Coles P.O.V.

Shorty after breakfast I got showered and changed. Today I was wearing all black. A black v neck top, black biker jeans, black combat boot and a black leather jacket obviously. Before leaving I grabbed my bog tags, gun, combat knife and com earpiece. We then drove to the ARC in my new car. However the second we stepped into the ARC the ADD alarm went off.

The detector lead us to a junkyard. At first we didn't see anything but I heard something

"Guys do you hear that" Danny answered e

"Hear what" a loud crash then echoed through the yard and I said

"That...Come on". We all ran towards the sound. We ran past some cars and not only found the creature but found a man sitting in a crane chasing the creature around with the grabbing claw. I recognise the creature from stories my dad made when I was little, it's a Dracorex. The man was trying to catch the Dracorex in the claw but when that didn't work he resulted in picking up cars and dropping the around the creature. He began to cage her in.

I jumped up on a car and said

"He's gonna kill the Dracorex" Danny responded with

"You know what it is"

"My dad told taught me about it when I was little. Anyway, It's a Dracorex, herbivore, late Cretaceous. They are docile creatures only really attack when they feel threatened" Abby then said when another car dropped

"He's gonna kill it"

"Agreed... Becker, Danny get him out of that crane". they ran to the crane whilst Abby jumped off the car to get a better look at the creature. Sarah then said

" whats wrong with it"

"theres something stuck in its side"she got really close and when the Dracorex shook its head i said

"abby they only attack when the feel threatened" it then charged at her and knocked her back. i then muttered "told ya".

"not funny" Danny then slammed a car bonnet and began yelling. we all joined in and we managed to push it back towards the anomaly. However connor had to say

"that was easy" i sighed and said

"why on earth did you have to say that" he looked towards the creature and said

"whys it coming back" the dracorex turned around and ran back. we pressed our backs up against the cars and after it ran past a knight on a white horse came from the anomaly and said

"Infernum hoc est mea quest continues onto gloria". when the knight was gone danny said

"well we've got a dragon and now a knight, a damsel in distress would be nice".

on the way to find the dragon or the knight abby asked

"what did he say anyway" sarah was the first to respond

"my quest for gory continues into hell" then danny had a go

"To me it sound like, This is hell my quest for glory continues". i then looked at him and said

"danny you know Latin"

"what a cop cant have a classical education"

"im not saying that, its just it was more like. This is hell my quest continues onto glory" Connor then said

"You can speak, write and read Latin but math you failed". i brushed my hand over the long scar on my lower right arm and said

"can we not bring up my school life please" danny then said

"you dont like talking about your childhood much" i walked ahead saying

"what childhood".

after deciding who was going to do what, connor, me and Danny headed into town to look for the knight. But as connor walked ahead slightly Danny said to me

"whats going on with you, today"

"its my birthday"

"and?"

"its my first birthday since my dad died"

"sorry Nic... Cole". a biker then ran out of an ally way and he was absolutely terrified. danny then said

"our knight"

"so what happens when we find him"

"sit him down an actually talk to him. like rashile human beings, yeah"

"yeah"

"yep". after not having any luck in the streets we decided to look in the back alleys.

and low and behold we find him digging through a trash can holding a toy baby. he then said

"stand back, demon" danny looked at me to say something but i i gestured for him to do it instead

"we are not demons. we are flesh and blood just like you"

"you are demons and i am in hell" connor then said

"technically its london. but you know its an easy mistake to make" i then said

" we can help you get home"

"my only way home is to slay the beast and to complete my quest" danny then said

"killing the dragon will not get you back" connor then said

"its not a dragon. we can help you" the knight then lowered his sword slightly and the boys walked forward slightly. but then the knight picked up the bin lid and hit the boys on the face. despite how amusing it was i picked up a pipe that was next to me and was ready to fight the knight. but when he was infront of my he said

"i do not fight a beautiful lady such as yourself but i will if i have to"

"suit yourself. but we can help you get back to your time. to your home" . he swung his sword at me which i blocked with the pipe. i then kicked him in the stomach and he stumbled backwards out of the alley only to have his sword scrap across my side. it was only a small cut but it was going to scar and it hurt like hell. the knight ran off just as the guys woke up. the first thing i said was

"if either of you tell Becker i will kick your arses".i moved my hand and saw some blood on my fingers. before Danny or connor could speak i said

"ill be only a small cut. lets go fin him".

-at the Green man pub-

Whilst out in town i ended up speaking to someone who had heard about some kind of altercation in a pub just around the corner. so assuming it was the knight we headed down there only to see a bunch of people running and screaming out of the pub. we ran inside only to see 4 grown biker guys hiding under a pool table. Danny placed a hand on my shoulder and said

"let us handle this one darling". so i took a step back and watched Danny and connor make complete fools out of themselves.

first danny thrpugh a bootle at the knight causing him to say

"see how your master cowers before me"

"we have never seen that guy before"

"how many demons must i slay this day" danny then said something to connor but i couldnt make out what it was. connor turned around and went to the bar as he passed me he said

"we may need you"

"figured" danny then said

"cant we talk about this" me attention was brought back to the knight that was approaching danny. danny then said

"thought not, whats that up there" the knight looked up and danny punched him in the stomach, idiot. he did it once more and then said

"thats just made you cross hasnt it" danny was then punched across the face and connor smashed a bottle round the knights head. i sighed before stadning up straight as the knight turned to face connor. who said

"you are to feeble a man worth killing but do not try my patience again. that goes for you too little girl" he left and we ran after him. back out into the parade we did actually loose him but it was so hard to find someone dressed as a knight when others were dressed up too. i then said

"now what"

"come on" so we followed danny further into the crowd.

after not finding anything we stopped outside a coffee place when someones phone rang. we all checked but it was mine

"its me" i answered the call from sarah

"sarah"

"the knights name is William de mornay. now he was a worrier, a mercenary who fought all over Europe. for whoever paid him. hes killed a lot of people Cutter. and hes looking for redemption. and he thinks killing the dragon is going to do it"

"care to tell me how you know all this"

"its my job to research so i researched"

"well you are very good"

"Better than you think"

" we have to find him. hes lost in a world he doesn't understand. been there, done that. its not nice"

"well in that case there is the ruins of the old Paris church by the river. im sending you the map reference, now"

"okay get becker and meet me there"

"he cant at the moment, hes helping abby"

"why whats he doing"

"they are operating on the dracorax"

"alright well wait for him and come meet me at the church"

"well i can come now"

"no sarah you do not leave without back up. thats an order do you understand"

"i cant hear you cutter. youre breaking up" she then hung up and i said to danny

"sarah is spending way to much time with me". connor then came out carring 3 coffees saying

"whats going on hows Abby"

"shes fine shes trying to save the dragon"

"really. do you know what i should be with her maybe i could help" danny then said

"well go on then" he took the coffees and connor ran back to the junk yard.

danny and i found william crying by a stone grave. danny spoke first

"William. i know none of this makes any sense but we can explain. you just have to trust us". william then said

"are you the devils champions" i then said

"No, we only want to help". William drew his sword and stood up. i then said to danny.

"do you want to handle this one"

"i did it last time"

"thanks" william swung his sword at us just missing. we split up but william only focused on me.

"i dont want to fight you"

"because you are a coward"

"thats a bit hash" i then did a flip on a wall causing him to run into it.

"you are an infernal imp that was sent to torment me my sole"

"you know you sound just like my crazy mother" i ran and picked up two pieces of metal to use as weapons. i blocked all his movements until my back was up against a wall. thats when sarah and danny reappeared saying

"william stop" he put his sword sown and we followed sarah back to he graves

"do you know what this is william"

"it is my grave. i am dead and gone to hell"

"youre not dead yet. look here. you have many years to live"

"then why am i already in the world to come"

"look closely"

"and my wife lay here beside me. but i have no wife"

"not yet. but you will when you get back. Lady Elizabeth Langly"

"how do you know her"

"you will marry her william. you will have 3 children together"

"i am just a wondering knight. fsr below her rank" i then took over.

"you must have done something to impress her William. you will live a long and happy life together. its written here in stone. its your fate, your destiny. if you let us take you back"

"my only way back is to kill the beast"

"no its not. the creature is injured, weak and likely to die. honour is satisfied "

"you know where it is" he grabbed my jack and demanded

"take me to it" danny went to help but he held his sword up and said

"take another step and dispatch her without mercy"

"you wont hurt me william" William then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder before heading to his horse. he put me on the back and went back ti the junk yard.

when we got back connor had his back to the door and i william was holding me close.

"it ends at last move out of the way boy"

"no" i then said as william pressed the sword agiant his throat

"connor move out of the way. you too abby. trust me". they bother stepped out of the way and as william got closure i elbowed him in the stomach and when he let go i stood in front of the creature.

"you show strange courage for a demon"

"you aint seen nothing yet". i then did i high kick knocking the sword from his hand and then a couple of spin kicks across his face. he kicked me in the stomach and i fell back. sarah stood in between us saying

"william. Elizabeth is waiting for you. you have my word of dragon will never come to your village again. your quest can end"

"i am weary of killing"

"i know"

"i crave only rest and the pleasures of peace"

"and they can all be yours" he got up and so did i.

"i have to kill the beast"

"i will not let you harm this creature".

"then i will cut you bith down"

"cutter get out of the way " becker then came in yelling

"drop your weapon and get down on the ground" sarah and i both said

"becker no"

"what"

"if you kill him the history changes. his children will never be born. for all you know they could be coles ancestors or maybe even yours. he has to go back"

"no hes going to kill cole" Becker raised his gun again and as william placed his knife at my throat he looked into my eyes and said

"So much pain, anger, sorrow. for such a young. youre not frightened"

"death hasn't scared me since in was 19, since i lost my best friend, my father. so do it set me free from all this pain. i just want to be free". i looked over and everyone was shocked by my words. danny then said

"this is not how demons behave is it william"

"no this is some sort of trick"

"no trick. and in your heart you know it. we are humans, like you"

"youve done enough, william. your quest is over". he held his sword close to his chest before yelling out and swinging it in my direction. but instead of putting in in my he stabbed a nearby oil barrel and fell to the floor crying. i too fell to my knees feeling sick to my stomach. that was the first time i had admitted what i was truly feeling. when william did calm down we got him back to the anomaly but before leaving he said to me in private

"things get easier with time. just let life take its course"

"thank you, william"

"no thank you Lady Nicole Cutter". and with that he went through and the anomaly closed behind him.

 **Becker's P.O.V.**

When we got back from the ARC Cole sat down on the arm of the sofa and said

"About what I said at the junkyard" I stood in front of her and held her hands. I then said

"You scared the shit out of me today. I thought I was going to loose you again" she moved one of her hands so that it was in my hair. She then said

"I'm not going anywhere again. I'm going to stay with you". She then kissed me. I moved closer to her with one of my hands on her back and the other on her thigh. With one hand in my hair the other snaked around my neck and she pulled me closer. I lowered her down onto the sofa and I was hovering over her. Before things went any further I broke the kiss and just looked at her. I cleared some hair off her face and i said out of the blue

"Move in with me"

"What?"

"I want you to buy a apartment with me"

"Seriously"

"It makes sense, I mean we spend every day together and basically live together. I want to have an apartment together. What do you say". Without warning she pulled me back into a passionate kiss. I pulled away and said

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes. Yes I'll move in with you" I kissed her again and let's just say the night ended fantastically.


	10. Chapter 10

Coles P.O.V

I woke up the same way today as I've done everyday for weeks. My head was laying on rock-hard muscle and my legs were wrapped around Becker's. I smiled remembering the amazing night we had. I love him and I don't know what I'd do without him. But I knew how this will end. Soon the truth will come. Out and everything is going to change.

Today I was wearing a pair of denim jeans, a white vest top, grey trainer heels, and a matching suede biker jacket. I had my dogs tags on and my promise ring, I also had my hair in a side plait.

He was wearing a pair of jeans, a black tee shirt with a red hoodie and converse. We got to work at 9am and Becker went to changed into his uniform. I didn't see him again for about an hour until the detector went off. We all met down in the garage but for some reason we were only using one car. Danny was driving and Connor got in the front before Becker had the chance. Leaving me, Abby, Sarah and Becker to sit in the back. The back could easily seat four but I could tell where this was going. Abby and Sarah got in taking up so much space that Abby said

"Cole, it looks like you're going to have to sit on Becker's lap" Becker then got in and pulled me onto his lap. He had an arm wrapped around my waist making sure I wouldn't fall and I had my head leaning on his shoulder. He then whispered in my ear

"Having a flashback to this morning" I smiled at him and then looked over to Abby and Sarah who were smirking at us and then Sarah looked down at my hand. I followed her gaze and without realizing it, I was spinning my new promise ring on my finger. She then said with a smirk in her face

"New ring, Cole?"

Connor turned in his chair and Danny looked at us through the mirror. I sighed and said

"Right, we've been dating for a few months so it's not an engagement ring, it's a promise ring" I saw Danny raise his eyebrows and then he muttered

"For now" Connor smiled and I said

"What was that, Danny?"

"Hmm, oh nothing".

10 minutes later Danny said

"Brace yourselves" he then slammed the brakes on and if it wasn't for Becker's arm I would have slammed into the back of Connors chair. Everyone then said

"Ow!". We all then got out and I spoke first

"Was that really necessary?" His response was

"My car, my rules" Connor then said

"I hate it when you pull rank" Becker then said

"Yeah, well I hate sitting in the back"

"You sat in the front last time"

"Who keeps count?" Abby answered him

"Connor does" Connor then said

"Plus you didn't seem to mind this time". I walked up behind him and smacked his head. He rubbed the back of his head as some guy yelled

"oh you lot, you can't go in there"

"friendly around here" the second i said that 2 supercars drove past. a blue and and orange one. the boys got distracted. i snapped them out by saying

"so where the anomaly"

"huh"

"the anomaly. we are working"

"oh right yeah. its over there"

we got back into the car and drove onto the track and to the garage. when we got out i asked one of the workers who had his back to me

"Mate have you seen anything weird"

"No sorry, Love"

"Okay thanks anyway". something about him felt really really familiar. his voice even his scent was so familiar. I went to turn around to talk to him but he was gone. Sarah then called me "Cutter, we found it "

"Okay im coming now". i turned back around and headed into the garage. i joined the others standing by the anomaly looking at some kind of goo.

"what it is" abby answered me

"some kind of sycresion"

"right so creature"

"Basically" Danny then put a bit on the end of a pen and smelt it. after determining it smelt terrible i said

"why?" i then stood up and said

"Right fan out, if you find something give us a yell". so we all split and went looking for some creature.

I met up with Danny who was standing behind a truck looking into the dark trailer. i then said

"we need to check it"

"I know". he took a coin from his pocket and flipped it into the truck. the coin echoed and it didnt seem as if anything was in there. but just to be safe danny went inside. he got all the way to the back but then we heard footsteps on the roof. i got out of the way when danny came running out followed by some creature. he lead it outside only yo trip and fall to the ground. the creature got closer and closer. i grabbed my gun but before i could fire the creature was squashed by the orange sportscar. its guts covered danny and as he wiped some off his mouth i got my phone out and said

"Smile Danny" and i took a picture of him.

Abby collected up the remains of the creature and she said that it was some kind of Ant but needs to do a full autopsy, it also turns out that Sarah hates bugs. so after leaving a few ARC guards at the race track we headed back to the ARC. The first thing that Danny did when we got back was get showered and changed. everyone had something to do but i was up to date with all my work, like all of it. so whilst we were waiting for the autopsy results Becker and i began looking for an apartment. we looked for a hour until Abby called some of us back to the hub because she and finished the autopsy.

"Right the insect creature is from the same family as ants, fly's, bees and wasps" Danny then said

"So it can sting?"

"In this particular case the stinger has evolved into an ovipositor" Connor then said

"English?" i then said

"It means that it uses it to deposit eggs into a host body. Human beings would do very nicely" The boys then said at the same time

"That's rank" "Nasty" Abby then said

"theres was something else. i found very high levels of selenium in it.. its a chemical like sulphur" Sarah then pulled a confused face and said

"Thats strange, because we found that the dirt on the artefact registered high levels of selenium as well" Danny then came to the conclusion

"so the bug is from the same place as the artefact"

"possible"

"and the artefact is from the future yeah" i then joined in

"Thats what Helen said.. Which means the furture could be just on the other side of the anomaly" Danny grabbed his jacket and said whilst grinning

"Abby finish up here! Cutter you are with me. Sarah get Becker and meet us at the race track. let's go!" Danny and i then ran out of the room and as he got into the truck i go onto my bike.

On the way to the race track Abby informed us that her brother was here and that the people we left here were dead. she hasn't told us how Jack knew where to find the anomaly but I've got a feeling that this isn't going to be a easy day. when we got to the race track we looked around for Jack and noticed that the anomaly was unlocked.

"He's not here". Abby looked down at his bike before looking at the anomaly saying

"He's gone through the anomaly. I have to find him". She began to march towards the anomaly with the rest of us behind her. Sarah was trying to comfort her

"I'm sure he's fine Abby". Danny then walked up beside her and said

"What was he doing here anyway?" She responded with

"I don't know" she then stopped and looked at me before saying

"He stole my detector" before I could say anything Danny practically yelled

"It's your responsibility to keep that thing safe!"

"He went in my bag" she mouthed 'sorry' to me before Connor said

"His is going to take time to fix" he was looking at the detector. I then said

"What happened?"

"It's been run over by a car" my attention was then drawn to Abby when she sighed, I then said

"Abs we will get him back...Con stay here and fix the locking mechanism" he stood up shaking his head saying

"No, no way I'm staying with Abby" sArah then spoke up

"I can figure all this out, Cole" Connor then said

"It just needs resetting and Synchronizing" when Abby stared walking to the anomaly Becker said

"Look this isn't some school trip! We've got to wait for back up". I stood in front of Abby and said

"He's right. We have no idea what is waiting in the future. Please Abby"

"If this was Steven or your Dad would you wait". I just froze in front of her. She pushed past me saying

"I thought not, you wait for back up if you want"she then walked through closely followed by Connor. Danny and Becker then came over and after Danny went through Becker gently grabbed my arm and said

"You don't have to come"

"Yes I do" we both then went through. I went to take a step back but Becker grabbed me and said

"Don't step backwards". i looked over the cliff to a terrifying drop, i must have knocked a rock or something because one was falling down the cliff. Becker pulled me up and i mouthed 'thank you' to him before having a look around.

The place was completely destroyed and no sign of any life. I then muttered

"Jesus Christ, no wonder Helen was obsessed with this place" Becker then said

"Look at these cars" Then Danny

"How long have they been here" Connor looked at them and said

"It's hard to say, exactly"

"Where is everyone" I responded with

"Dead, most likely" Danny then said

"Look all we have to do is find the kids and get out of here"

"What on earth's happened here"

"Look concentrate on the job. he can have gone far"

"unless hes spooked " Abby then said

"He'll be somewhere nearby, he's not an idiot" Connor then said something but i wasn't listening, instead i had jumped up onto a ledge when i saw something in the distance that looked out of place.

"Abby. over there" i pointed and then she said

"That's the car" we then split up. Me, COn and Abby walked next to the building whist Becker and Danny walked next to some cars. Abby then started yelling

"JACK! JACK!" then i saw Becker point at something, i looked up and saw a predator on the ledge. connor saw it as well because he grabbed abby and held his hand over her mouth. but then my trigger happy boyfriend shot at it using his shotgun.

"No" we then went back to a little out cove near the anomaly. when everyone was there i said

"You idiot"

"What"

"You've just alerted every predator for miles"

"I didn't have much of a choice did I Nicole" Danny then stepped in

"What are you talking about" Connor answered him

"Predators, they're um. well we don't know how they evolved or when but we know they're intelligent, quick and really mean. its a case of we kill them or thy kill us"

"Why are we whispering" Abby then said

"They locate their prey using echolocation"

"They see sound. If they got out, humanity never stood a chance" Becker then said

"That's it we go back. we need back up" Abby responded with

"He could be injured we cant leave him here with those creatures" Danny then stay

"Its her brother. we stay... Cutter?" i didn't respond. becker then said

"You're supposed to make the decision, Cole"

"I am. we stay. And Abby, you calm down. wait here both of you. lets go boys" Me, Danny and Becker then walked out quietly and headed towards the cars. when we took cover by a car Becker said

"You do know hes most certainly dead, don't you" Danny responded with

"She needs to find out by herself. he's her brother, if i was in her place id want the exact same thing" Abby threw the bag to Danny before heading back the way the came. I crossed over and joined them. However and a minuet danny was Attacked by what looked like a baby predator. He killed it with the door before saying

"And that was a baby right"

"Yeah" Abby then carried on and connor went to check on Danny, i followed abby. we carefully passed the cars but then a baby broke a window scaring us. Becker gabbed me by the waist and basically pushed me into a building closely followed by abby and then the guys.

inside the building Becker said to Abby

"I'm only going to tell you this one more time. getting ourselves killed wont help your brother. we need a fully armed search and rescue unit. i wont have you risk Cole's life for your mistake" i then spoke up

"Oi, leave her alone, she couldn't help Jack going threw her back. and i don't need you protecting me i'm a big girl" Becker looked at me and he looked kinda hurt. Danny then said

"Abby having more fire power gives us a better chance of finding him, thats a fact" connor then said

"Danny's right"

"You too."

"I'm just trying to be sensible"

"You've always hated him haven't you. you'd be happy if he was dead" she shoved him before heading out of the door with me and danny close behind. we jumped up onto a grassy patch and thats when we heard it, the sound that will make your blood turn cold, the clicking. we all froze when it came out of a door really close to us. Abby placed her hand on danny's chest to try and slow his heartbeat as it came closer. Connor then yelled

"Oi, over here" it turned towards him.

"Go" it approached him as he backed into the building. i then watched it collapse, Becker must have shot it. Abby pushed away from danny and proceeded to the car. i followed her. she stopped at a fence and said

"I didn't ask for your help"

"Yeah well you've got it"

"He's the only family i've got. i have to help him"

"listen i'll make you a deal. we go to the car, if hes there great if not then we go back and get back up and start agin. ive lost to many people to this job, your brother will not be another notch on the belt. got it"

"Got it" Danny soon caught up as we proceeded to the car.

Abby ran ahead to the car and Danny said

"Is he in the car"

"No" i then heard faint yelling from the vent next to me. abby came over and confirmed it was him before saying

"Jack"

"Abby"

"Jack you have to keep quiet"

"Abby youve got to get me out of here. theres these things down here, their disgusting"

"What are they"

"What are they"

"their horrible, slimy and they Stink"

"He's fine"

shortly after Becker and Connor joined us Danny headed down to see if Jack was okay. after about 5 minuets He yelled up

"Connor we're going to need a rope" we got one out of the bag and the passed it down to him.

"Okay Take him up" Me, Abby and Connor then started pulling on the rope but it was really heavy. i then said

"How much does this kid weight" we were doing rather well until the rope slipped from our hands. all we heard was Jack yelling and then Abby swapped places with Becker. things soon progressed until Danny put on the pressure

"COLE GET HIM OUT OF HERE". we just kept pulling on the rope until abby said

"Guys" We turned and saw a shit load of predators heading our way. Becker took the gun from abby and she came back to help us. Becker then crouched beside us and said

"Whatever happens get him out of here" I then saw he had taken the silencer of the gun so i said

"Don't you dare"

"I love you" He then kissed me and ran off knowing i couldn't follow without risking Jack.

"BECKER" he ran off followed by predators. Moments later Danny came back up and we managed to pull Jkc up. He went to abby as Danny said

"Get him out of here, there's something coming up"

"What is it"

"Trust me you don't want to know" he then threw a flare down the vent which ended up igniting the place. we jumped out of the way and then ran into an old bus. when we got on the bus Danny threw Jack in saying

"be quiet especially you". after a minuet i was sat on the floor and Danny said

"Becker" I buried my head in my knees and said

"He's gone"

We've been in the bus for about 15 minutes and i haven't listened to any of the conversations around me. Danny then sat down next to me and said

"I know that this is hurting you but i need you to keep it together, cole. You know what we have to do to survive ive read your file you've been n situations like this when you were in the Army"

"I cant keep doing this"

"Doing what"

"Losing people. First it was my friends, then stephen, then my dad and now Becker. everyone around me dies"

"Thats not true Cole"

"Yes it is"

"OKay, if you think it is then don't let us be added to the list, pull yourself together, we need you"

"OKay" I then got up ad we joined the others. connor then spoke

"Here are our options. A. we try and make a run for it and they rip us to pieces. B. we hold out here as long as we can and they rip us to pieces"

"Great options"

"This is it" However after that danny was by the door and then he said

"its the fire. its drawing them out. we have to go now"

"Don't stop until you get to the anomaly" Danny opened the door and we ran out into chaos. the predators were fighting the ant things but all the same we just ran.

we got to the anoamly and just our luck it was Locked.

"NO!"

"Sarah must have closed it" Our attention was then drawn to a crash from behind us. we turned and saw a predator jumping across the cars getting closer and closer. when it was one car away a gun shot was heard and it fell off the car. Becker then came threw the sun roof and he looked terrible.

"BECKER!"

After coming back through the anomaly and getting cleaned up, one of the ARC guards found me and handed me a note telling me that a worker gave it to him about 5 minuets ago. i opened the note and it read

"I know who you really are. Meet me out back by the trees in 10 minuets". my heart stopped whilst reading it. he cant know the truth, who the hell is he. so i screwed up the note and headed out back. my heeled boots clicking on the metal stairs and as i passed danny i said

"i'll meet you back at the ARC i want to stick around for a bit"

"you brought your car"

"yep. let the others know Okay"

"okay, catch ya later" he walked away and when he was out of ear shot i turned around saying

"Yeah, whatever" i then continued outside.

"Hello. anyone out here". i looked around the trees but i couldn't see anyone. i sighed and then said

"Waste of time". however as i began walking out of the trees someone grabbed my arms and pulled me back only to push my back against a tree. he then said

"where is she"

"what are you crazy. wheres who"

"don't play dumb i know the truth. Where is she"

"who are you talking about".He then took off his sunglasses and his hood. before saying again "Where is the real cole. My Cole"

"Stephen. you're alive. how"

"That's not important. Where is My Cole"

"What makes you think that shes still yours. ive been living her life for months and she actually moved on"

"i don't care if she doesn't love me anymore. i still love her. where is she"

"I don't know. i've never known.i wasn't told encase i was compromised."

"How long has she been gone" he pushed me harder against the tree and I now had a branch digging into my back. I then practically yelled

"I don't know for sure. But You are almost defiantly too late. If Cole is alive you cant stop whats coming unless you tell everyone that you're alive. and if you wanted to do that you would have already. Whats holding you back, Love"

"None of your business. but if you hurt anyone in the ARC i will hunt you down and make you suffer". he then let me go and disappeared into the trees.


	11. Chapter 11

**2 days later**

So normally my day starts at 7am but today my phone started vibrating waking me up before my alarm. i opened my tired eyes and sat up only to see Becker still sleeping soundly, he's surprisingly a heavy sleeper. Anyway i looked at my Alarm clock and saw it wasn't even 6am. i picked up my phone and after looking at the caller I.D i got out of bed and stepped out to answer it.

"What the hell Danny. it's not even 6 in the morning"

 _"I know and you can yell at me later. i need your help"_

"With what and can't it wait"

 _"Back when we were in the future i saw Captain Wilder and he had this woman. i didn't recognize her"_

"And"

 _"And i need your help to get into Johnston's HQ . You worked there you must know your way around"_

"Yeah i know my way around. Does Lester know about this"

 _"He told me not to do anything"_

"And you couldn't have told me this yesterday"

" _You seemed off about something when you returned. So i thought i'd just leave you be"_

"Fine. where and when should i meet you"

 _"I can meet you outside of your apartment building in 20 minutes"_

"We are going to get into so much trouble, you know that right"

 _"Is Nicole Cutter worried about getting into trouble, now something about that just doesn't sound right"_

"I'll see you in 20 minutes Danny-boy" I then hung up the phone and snuck back into my room and grabbed some clothes. i got changed a pair of denim jeans, a black long sleeve tee-shirt, a pair of leather fingerless gloves, i grabbed my work bag, Glasses and put on my necklace before leaving the room and heading towards the door. i put on my leather jacket and left a note for becker before leaving the apartment with my boots in my hand. i locked the door behind me and put my boots on whilst heading towards the stairs. As i exited the building Danny pulled up. i got into the truck saying

"If we're doing this you're buying me a coffee"

"We have to wait for the place to open anyway, i'll buy you a breakfast. oh and since when do you wear glasses"

"i ran out of contacts yesterday okay, i was too tired when i got home and forgot to order some"

"You should wear them more, they suit you"

"Thanks". we then drove off and ended up going to a Cafe a couple of minutes from Johnstons HQ.

Whilst in the Cafe we both ordered a full breakfast and the most Caffeinated drink they sold. when we started eating i said

"So whats the plan? and if it go in all guns and blazing i'm going home"

"Relax, Cutter. The plan is to get in, find the woman, find out who she is and why Johnston wants her"

"You make sound so easy"

"So are you going to tell me what's been up with you recently"

"I'm just a bit stressed out and tired recently. it makes me cranky alright"

"Alright, maybe you should take some time off or actually split the workload with me like you're supposed to, remember"

"Danny, i don't like asking people for help, it's just how i was raised since i was 9. But recently i've realized that sometimes it's okay to ask for help, so when we get back to the ARC you can take half of the work off my desk"

"Deal"

-2 hours later-

Just after 7 Danny and i headed over to Johnstons and we now had gray boiler suits so we can blend better with everyone. currently we are squatting in some bushes across from the HQ, when all of a sudden my phone rang, i took it out of my pocket and saw it was Lester calling me

"Hello"

"Where are you? You're late. i wouldn't usually bring myself to care but so is Mr Quinn"

"Sorry Sir, Stuck in traffic"

"Oh really, Becker seemed to get here on time"

"What can i do for you, Boss" I then took the binoculars from Danny so i could get a look at Johnstons building.

"I'm meeting the minister this afternoon"

"That might be too late sir, who knows what Johnston has planned"

"So Danny Told you about the mystery woman. Johnston is Military, we cannot just storm in there without any sort of" I cut him off by saying

"yes sir i am very aware of that" I then pointed at the door when i saw Christine with a woman in a brown jumpsuit.

"All based on the haunch that shes got some hidden anomaly and a woman from the future tucked away somewhere" A truck then pulled up not that far from us. there was plenty of space to hide underneath. Danny tapped my arm and gave me a nod telling me this is our chance.

"Okay, you're the boss"

"You are in a very understanding mood today, Cutter"

"The lights have changed, i've got to run"

"Cutter"

"Sorry you're breaking up!"

"Don't do anything i'll regret" i then put the phone down on him and after checking no one was looking our way we made a break from the truck.

The truck stopped in a little corridor between two buildings. the driver then got out and switched places, the second the truck stopped Danny and i dropped to the ground and stayed still and silent. the truck then drove off and we snuck into a side door next to us. we entered the building and acted natural, it then all came back to me, the way around the building.

I was walking ever so slightly ahead of Danny with my head down and acting as if i was showing him around. we were only in the building for a couple minutes before we walked passed a room where christine stood interrogating the mystery woman.

We went into a nearby janitor's closet right next to the room. When we entered the room my phone buzzed in my pocket, i took it out and read the text from Connor

"Anomaly Alert! Where are you?" Danny showed me the same text on his phone. but even though we had to go we carried on with this job. Danny then handed me a screwdriver he had in his pocket and i set to work taking the screws out of a vent at the far side of the room. Danny stayed back and kept watch whilst my military instincts kicked in, Danny then muttered

"You can take the girl out of the Army but you can't take the army out of the girl"

"Shut up Danny and come here" we could now hear everything that was happening in the room next to us. Christine then spoke

"For the last time, tell me your name..." The other woman stayed silent,

"When my officers found you, they tell me you tired to run. why?..." She was met with silence again.

"Who are you? Who are you working for?" Again more silence

"How did you come to be there?" Even more silence, i'm getting frustrated now.

"Let me explain something to you; you're not leaving until i get some answers. So... Unless you really like it here, i suggest you start yapping" still no words came out of the womans mouth.

"Tell. Me" finally the woman started to talk

"Everyone's dead, what difference does it make who i am?"

"You mean the future?" The woman nodded once before Christine said

"You know what happened?"

"The predators, they destroyed everything"

"And where did the predators come from?"

"I don't know, i wish i did". Christine looked at her from a moment, before turning and grabbing something from an evidence bag behind her. she then turned around and slammed the object on the table in front of the woman. the object was rectangular, mechanical at the bottom and glass at the top. Christine then asked well i say asked, more demanded

"Tell me what this is" the other woman just stared at the object before saying

"I found it in the ruins but i have no idea what it is. i think it may be broken-" Christine cut her off by slamming her hands on the table and said

"You're lying. What do you know about the Anomalies" The woman's head snapped up and said

"Anomalies?"

"Go on..."

"Anomalies are... Rips... in time. Some you can see, others are invisible to the naked eye.. They're everywhere. you just have to know how to find them"

"And you know how to do that"

"Yes"

"How?"

"I'll show you. but first you have to take me to the Anomaly Research Centre"

"What do you know about the ARC" i found it amusing to hear the confusion in Christine's voice.

"Take me there and i'll show you"

"You don't give the orders around here"

"Take me to the ARC, and then i'll help you"

"Ma'am" Captain Wilder then walked into the room with some papers in his hand and handed them to christine. He then went over and stood behind the other woman. Even though Christine had her back to us we couldn't see what was on the papers. Wilder then left the room but seconds later came through the door for the room we were in. Danny wasted no time in grabbing the vent cover and threw it at Wilder, he stumbled backwards and i the kicked his feet out from under him. Danny and i then took off running down the corridor. we turned the corner and hid in an alcove as a group of soldiers ran past. we then heard Wilder shout

"INTRUDERS!" seconds after alarms began blaring. When all the soldiers were gone Danny grabbed my arm and pulled me into the first room he found. it looked like a bedroom, i started looking around the room whilst danny stood by the door. the room was pretty basic, no personal items other than a bag on a small desk. i picked the bag up and then Danny said

"That's the bag the woman head" i then opened it to see if there was anything important in it, the only thing in it was a small worn book that resembled a journal. i opened it and saw a bunch of notes, pictures and a lot of repetition of '333'. Danny then grabbed my arm and pulled me behind the door just as i put the book in my pocket fro sarah. the door then opened and a soldier pushed the mystery woman inside. i then whistled and the soldier turned around just as my fist connected with his face. he hunched over and i the grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the chest and then pushed his head into the wall. lets just say the guy didn't get back then said

"Nice Moves"I Then blew a piece of hair off my face. The mystery woman made a break for the now closed door but was stopped by Danny. she then pleaded

"I have to get out of here"

"Yeah we're very aware of that. but why the ARC"

"I have to warm them" A group of shoulders then ran past the door shouting. he waited until it went quiet before opening the door slightly to look. the woman grabbed her bag as he turned to us saying

"Right let's go" the three of us ran up the corridor and out the same way we got in, somehow miraculously avoiding the hundreds of soldiers that work here. we ran off the property and round the corner to the truck. when we saw the truck i turned to danny and said

"Keys" He threw them to me and before we got into the truck we took off the boiler suits. The mystery woman got into the back, i got into the driver's seat with Danny next to me. We set off and actually drove past Johnston's place as metal shutters closed all over the building. i then said

"She put the place in Lockdown, that gives us some time to help the others" The woman sat forward and said

"There's no time for this i have to get to the ARC"

"Sorry, but we've still got a job to do"

-20 minutes later-

We pulled up in a middle of a wooded area at the Anomaly site. Abby was directing a man in a tractor to heard some Prehistoric Rhinos back through the Anomaly, whilst Sarah and Becker stood in the bed of a truck, next to where i pulled in. As i undid my seatbelt i said to the woman

"Stay put" I got out just as she said

"We're wasting time!" I just simply replied with

"Danny, can you deal with her" he didn't say anything, i just closed the door and walked towards Sarah and Becker. As i got over to them Sarah went to say something but i just said

"Don't go there. Right first question, Where is our resident nerd Connor Temple?" Sarah answered me

"He's keeping the bull away from the females"

"Im guessing he didn't get much choice in that, did he"

"Abby asked"

"Right then that explains it" Abby then jumped from the truck and ran over saying

"It's working, they're going through" Danny then joined us as i said

"Looks like you guys didn't need us today. Good Work"

"Thanks" Abby then went back over to the Tractor but then she ran back saying

"The anomaly's closing! we need to get them back through faster". We all looked at each other before Danny ran to the tractor to tell him to speed up, Becker ran towards Abby to try and push them while i ran back to the truck. i accelerated towards the Rhinos and the woman screeched from the backseat

"You're going to hit it!" i rammed into the back legs of the creature, it turned to grunt at me before speeding up ever so slightly. i then said

"That's the idea" I continued to ram into the Rhinos, making them move faster. i honked the horn and yelled

"Come on ladies!"

However, despite our efforts, only one Rhino got through the Anomaly before it snapped shut. The immediate closure of the Anomaly seemed to agitate the Rhinos, as if they knew they had just lost their only ticket home. They started to speed up and started crashing into each other and trees around them. seconds later i caught a glimpse of connor driving underneath the Rhinos with the male very close behind, the male crashed into the females and the took of in a different direction, the females instinctively followed. I pulled up next to the team and Sarah said

"They're heading to the campsite" Danny got back into the truck and we all made our way to the campsite. when i pulled up in the campsite i got out and looked around at all the innocent people before saying

"We've got to get these people away from here" as the team started telling people to get out of here the woman got out and said to me

"They're too big!"

"Well have you got a better idea" she dove into her bag and then pulled out the object christine was so interested in, and started pressing buttons.

"You told Johnstons you didn't know what that was. So what is that thing"

"I'll explain later" i stayed with the woman but then my attention was drawn towards Gunfire and then Abby yelling

"No! Becker Stop!" but he didn't stop he knelt down and continued firing at the Rhinos. The woman then stopped and pointed the device at the Rhinos. i then said

"If you're going to do something now would be a good time" She just pointed and stared at the Rhinos. The Rhinos just got closer and then i heard Danny yell

"Nick, Move!" I was just about to move but then the woman pressed a button on the device and an Anomaly opened directly in front of her. with no time to stop the Rhinos just ran through one by one. we were all taken back by this and then Connor said

"How did you do that?". The woman then replied

"The technology is simple enough"

"Really?, try me"

"Another time" She then turned to Me and said

"Now will you help me, please. i have to get a message to a man named James Lester. i have to worm him, please i am begging you" I turned to the others and then said

"I'm taking her to the ARC" I then turned to the woman and said

"Get back in the car" she walked off and then i pulled out her book and handed it to Sarah saying

"Hey, this is her book. Will you look and see what you can make of it, it seems to be in some sort of code and it looks to be all over the place"

"Sure"

"Thank you, Sarah" I then headed back towards the car saying

"Danny Abby, You're coming with me"

On the way back to the ARC danny made a call to james threw the trucks hands free phone system. Danny spoke first

"We're bringing someone to meet you"

 _"Who? Come on, out with it. You know i don't like... Surprises"_ after pausing on the last word, James all of a sudden ended the call. i then said

"I've got a bad feeling about this" Danny and Abby both hummed In Agreement.

We walked into the ARC 20 minutes later. When we walked into the Hub a member of security said

"the boss would like to see you" I then said

"What right now"

"Right now" Abby then said to me

"I'll keep an eye on her" Danny and i then headed upstairs to Lester's office. However when we got to the door we saw Christine and Wilder.

The second we entered Christine demanded

"Where is she?" I spoke first

"Who?" Danny casually wandered over to the window blocking the view of the woman by placing his arm against the glass wall.

"I suggest you both start cooperating immediately. you're looking at a very long time in jail" Danny then said

"You're really going to have to work on your small talk" i just glared at him.

"Where is she" this time it was directly aimed at me

"I don't know, your guess is as good as ours"

"Even if i have to go to the ends of the earth... i will find her" James then spoke up

"I assume we're talking about a certain mystery woman"

"They know exactly who i'm talking about" Christine then took notice to the fact that Danny seemed to be hiding something, she then pushed his arm down and the James said

"She's downstairs isn't she"

"Yeah"

"Nice work, subtle" As christine headed out of the room i stepped in front of her and said

"Let me talk to her, she seems to trust me"

"You have one minute" I then headed down the spiral and straight over to the woman. I got over to her but before i could say anything she saw Christine and made a move for the lunged in front of the women . Abby then said angrily

"What do you think you're doing?". I turned to look at Christine who was saying

"My, my you have been busy". I turned to face the women when Connor, Sarah and Becker ran into the room. Connor shouted

"Cole, move away" before I could move I had a hand round my neck squeezing my airway. I grabbed the woman's arm but she was stronger than me. She also pulled a gun out on Christine. She then said

"Thanks for bringing me here, Danny. You know I would never have gotten this far without you" her necklace glowed and her face changed. I managed to say

"Helen" but I was struggling to breath

"Hello Cole. I thought you were supposed to be smart. Yoi haven't even realised that there is a mole working among you". She released my necj and I took a couple of steps back. Ahe pulles christine closer and then said

"Listen to my voice. Pull out your gun and aim it at your boyfriend" her eyes travelled from me to Becker behind me. But i couldn't ignore my primary programming so i pulled out my gun and spun around to aim it at Becker. The looks on everyone's faces was priceless, especially thr primary team, the look of betrayal.

Connor then said

"Huh? What are you doing, Cole"

"i cant ignore my primary programming, Connor"

"Primary prog... you're a clone" helen and ne theb saod atvthe sane time

"and the penny drops" Helen then carried on

"Nicks DNA wasn't the only DNA i got from. The house. But this clone is so much more than a clone. She thinks like her and has all of her memories. Best of all i can see what she sees, hear what she hears. Shes the perfect living weapon" Becker was beyond pissed off and basically shiuted

"Where is the real Cole?!" I sighed and said

"who cares. I'm the upgraded version, the better version"

"we care, where is she"

"the question you should be asking yourselves is not where she is but when"

 **To be continued...**

 **You'll have to wait until the next book**? ﾟﾘﾈ


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